


The Carling Collection

by tertia



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon Era, Character Study, Childhood Memories, Complete, Diagon Alley, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, F/M, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Flourish and Blotts, Fluff, Friendship, Heartwarming, Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Express, Hogwarts House Sorting Ceremony, Honeydukes, Minor Canonical Character(s), One Shot Collection, Original Character(s), POV Original Female Character, Quidditch, Ravenclaw, The Burrow, Three Broomsticks, Wizarding World
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-07-25
Packaged: 2018-12-06 01:51:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 38,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11590518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tertia/pseuds/tertia
Summary: An envisioning of the life of a young witch from her first signs of magic to her seventh year at Hogwarts.A collection of related one shots that strive to be very faithful to canon and seamlessly integrated with the source material, set during the Second War.The chapter notes at the end of each chapter include questions about the nuances of wizarding society.  Come join the discussion!





	1. Prelude: The Hengist Historical Society

**Author's Note:**

> I began writing fan fiction in 2003, though at the time I didn’t know that’s what I was doing. I started by compiling a document of character facts for an original character who, if I’m being honest, was meant to be the English, witch-born, Hogwarts-attending version of myself. Now, before you run screaming from the hills (not just an OC, but worse, an admitted self-insert!), please bear in mind that I was only 13 when I began developing this character in earnest, when the best way I had of truly experiencing the wizarding world that I loved so deeply and to which I so desperately wanted to belong was to write myself into it. While I drew directly from my own experiences, preferences, and wishes in creating my OC, what sets her apart from other self-insertions is the fact that she is fully her own character with her own backstory and motivations. The Carling Collection is not the story of an American exchange student at Hogwarts. Rather, I tried to use my OC, Lily, as a way to explore life in the wizarding world from a different perspective than the one we get through Harry in the books. JK Rowling created such a rich universe, and within that there are so many unmentioned characters and untold stories lurking on the periphery, waiting to be slipped into the cracks of the canon plot.
> 
> I love reading fics like this; stories that stay true to canon while fleshing out minutiae of the wizarding world that we don’t see in the novels. That’s what I’ve tried to do with The Carling Collection. It’s undergone a few thorough revisions since the initial drafts I wrote as a young teenager (you’re welcome), so now I hope it stands as a series of related oneshots that are very faithful to canon (including new Pottermore content), and well woven with the original text. If you do decide to read it, I would love any feedback you have on the events described and my characterization of the canon cast. Plausible? Spot on? Completely off base? Please let me know!
> 
> Now, with all that out of the way, this first chapter can easily be skipped and the rest of the story will still make sense. See the end notes for more information.

**June 1999**

Galvin checked the address on the letter in his hand and then knocked three times on the door in front of him.  Seconds later the door opened and a young witch with short blonde hair and grey eyes smiled out at him expectantly.

"Hello Miss Carling," Galvin said.  "I'm Galvin Jarwood from the Hengist Historical Society of Kent...we've been corresponding via owl?"

"Yes, of course," the girl replied, opening the door wider.  "Please, come in.  I've been expecting you."

She opened the door all the way and invited the man into her small, Diagon Alley flat.  Upon entering Galvin nearly ran straight into the dining room table, which was situated very near the door.  It then became very evident that the girl had indeed been expecting him.

There were two cups of steaming tea sitting at the far end of the table, but they were barely visible behind the oak trunk that lay open on the table top, surrounded by an assortment of documents, photographs, and other artifacts.

"Please, sit," said the girl, gesturing to a chair with a cup of tea in front of it.

Galvin said "thank you", placed his briefcase on the floor beside him and sat down as the girl did the same.

"Now, you know why I'm here, of course," Galvin said, sipping his tea.  "The Hengist Historical Society is working to compile a book of biographies of those who were affected by the Second War.  Of course," he went on, pushing his silver glasses up the bridge of his nose, "everyone was affected by it in some way.  It only ended a year ago.  Regardless, the Society is collecting as many interviews as it can from as many different perspectives as we can right now.  We're looking to speak with Ministry officials, shop owners, Hogwarts students and staff, Aurors, even ex-Death Eaters.  Then we'll choose the most interesting and relevant interviews to put into this book.  It should be a very interesting project."

"Certainly," the girl agreed.

"I'd like to start with some basic background information," Mr. Jarwood said, pulling a lengthy form, some blank parchment and a quill out of his briefcase and situating these materials in front of him, "and then we'll move on to discuss your lineage and finally the formative events in your life up to now, with special focus on the War, naturally."

The girl nodded and Galvin continued.

"So, the basics.  Full name?"

"Lily Amber Carling," Lily answered.

“Just Carling?” he asked, studying his parchment.  “I have ‘Carling-Lestrange’ listed here.”

"Yes, well,” Lily said.  “I suppose that is my _full_ name.”

“Any relation to the infamous Death Eaters, Bellatrix and Rodolfus?”

"Yes," Lily answered shortly.  “Distantly, on my mother’s side.  I wouldn’t read too much into that, though.  All the old pureblooded families are related somehow, after all.”

"True, true," Galvin said, taking notes on his parchment.  “Next, birth date?"

"January 20th, 1980."

"Ah, so you were indeed in the same year as Harry Potter while at Hogwarts?" Galvin inquired eagerly, shaking a stray strand of brown hair out of his eyes and adjusting his glasses again.

"That's right," Lily answered.

"Would you say you were friends with Harry, then?  Close to him in anyway?"

"Erm...no, I wouldn't say so,” Lily replied, studying her interviewer skeptically and questioning his intentions.  “I mean, we talked sometimes.  We were friendly, but we really weren't much more than acquaintances."

"Hmm, I see," Galvin said, sounding somewhat disappointed and scribbling a note onto his parchment.  "Let's talk about your family, then.  You mentioned that you are pureblooded...?"

"I am," Lily answered as Galvin continued to take notes.

"Good.  Now, I'd like you to tell me about the maternal side of your family.  No great details are necessary, I'd just like to know how many aunts and uncles you've got, what houses at Hogwarts your grandparents were in, things of that nature."

"Well, I've got this if you'd like to copy it," Lily said, rummaging through the explosion of papers and photographs in and around the trunk before her.  She pulled out what appeared to be an elaborate family tree.  "The important bits are at the bottom here," she said, pointing to two names, Virgil and Vera Lestrange.

"These are your maternal grandparents?" Galvin asked, examining the tree and pointing at the same names.

"That's right.  Both of them were Slytherins, and though neither of them were actually Death Eaters or anything that extreme, they certainly thought Voldemort had the right idea.  They were friends with a lot of the families that went on to serve You-Know-Who, but fortunately they never got too involved themselves."

"How fascinating," Galvin said, scratching away at his parchment.  "And I see here that you've got two aunts as well?"

"Yes," replied Lily.  "Ephra who was in Ravenclaw and Briar who was in Slytherin.  My mum, Lydia, was the youngest and a Ravenclaw as well."

"Excellent," Galvin said, nodding and writing.  "Now I'd like to talk about the paternal side of your family."

"I have a family tree for that side, too," Lily said, sorting through the pages strewn across the table.  "Here."  She handed the tree to Galvin and pointed out her grandparents.

"Alton and Asteria Carling?" he asked, making sure he was looking at the right branch of the tree.

"That's them.  Alton was in Gryffindor and Asteria in Hufflepuff.  They had four children. Brogan's a squib.  He married a Muggle and their kids aren't magical.  Can't say I like that lot too much.  Then there was my dad, Sawyer.  He was in Slytherin.  Next is Uncle Drake, a Slytherin, and then Aunt Tierney who was in Hufflepuff.  She married a Muggle as well."

"Does all your family live around London, or -"

"Oh, no," Lily interrupted.  "My grandparents are all in Upper Flagley, my dad is in Cumbria, and I grew up in Berkshire before I moved to London.  The rest of my family is scattered around England.  Except my Aunt Briar.  She lives in America with her husband."

"You didn't live with your father?" Galvin inquired, sounding concerned.

"No.  I don’t think he and Lydia ever married, like I said.  He's been in the Lake District for as long as I can remember," answered Lily.  “He does some work concerning magical creatures for the Ministry of Magic up there.  I don't know...he's an interesting fellow, my dad.  A storyteller.  He used to tell me when I was little that we were descended from wood elves and that when I was born I had pointy ears but I grew out of them.  I loved it when he told me things like that, and I believed him.  Of course, now I'm older I'm not so sure how truthful his stories were..."

"Of course, of course," said Galvin with an understanding nod.  "Now, I'm curious...what was your childhood home like?  Did you live in a Muggle neighbourhood or perhaps-"

"No," interrupted Lily once again.  "Lydia and I lived quite near a Muggle neighbourhood, but Feverfew Vale was tucked into a wood across the way from that.  It was quite easy to get to if you knew what you were doing, but if you didn't it proved to be a bit trickier to locate.  I really liked it there...our big cottage in the shade.  It's got a big garden with a pond and it's all lined with cherry trees and things.  It's really quite lovely."

"It sounds lovely," Galvin said.

"I really did like growing up there," Lily went on reminiscently.  "It was nice, too, because there was this little old witch, Mrs. Blanchflower, that had set up a little one room school house not too far away for the wizarding children in the area to learn to read and write and things like that.  We didn't practice magic, of course, but we didn't have to be home-schooled like most wizarding children.  There were only about ten of us, and only one other girl that ended up in my year at Hogwarts.  Mostly I'm glad I got to be around other witches and wizards my own age when I was younger...not everyone has that opportunity, you know?"

"That is a rather unique circumstance, yes, though not unheard of," Galvin agreed, noting this on his parchment and giving Lily and appreciative nod.  "Now, let me see..."  He scanned over the form and notes in his hand, making sure he had gone over all the necessary points before proceeding.  "Very good.  I think that will be all for the background information.  Now I'd like to tell you a bit about the next section and how it's going to be used.

"As I explained before, participating in this interview does not guarantee that your story will be in the Society's book.  We expect this project to take quite a while to complete, especially considering that we would like to reunite with some of our interviewees in several years time in order to compile an epilogue of sorts.  Now, in a moment I'm going to ask you to begin recounting important moments in your life; your first signs of magic, getting your first wand, your first day at Hogwarts, any death you experienced at the hands of Voldemort...anything that you remember well and wish to share, any memories or opinions that you think were important in making you the witch you are today.  Also, it would be helpful if you could recount these memories in chronological order as best you can, and any papers or photographs you can provide to supplement these memories would be greatly appreciated.  Are you ready to begin?"

"Yes," Lily said, nodding enthusiastically.  "Yes, I think so."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was not part of the earlier drafts of my story. I added it as a frame for the rest of the fic after Deathly Hallows was released. While I like the concept (I imagine a historical society would conduct these kinds of interviews for archival purposes following a major war), the interview is never mentioned again and the following chapters don’t exactly contain the kind of details someone like Mr. Jarwood would be seeking. Really, this chapter was an excuse for me to preserve a lot of background detail on Lily that I had saved in other places. Subsequent chapters will actually have some semblance of plot, I promise! 
> 
> I always appreciate comments and kudos. Thank you for stopping by!


	2. First Magic

**August 1984**

"Give it back!" a four-year-old Lily screamed.  She was standing in the children's corner of Flourish and Blotts, and a red haired boy, about her age, had taken the book she was looking at from her.

"No!" the boy shouted back, "I had it first!"

"So?!" Lily said, becoming angry, "I was looking at it!  Give it back right now or I'll...I'll..."

 But before Lily could issue her threat, there was a flash of golden sparks and the book burst into cheery, yellow flames.  The red haired boy dropped the book and jumped back.

A plump, red haired witch hurried over to the corner, holding the hand of a young girl, and being followed by five red haired boys. 

"Ron!” she shouted.  “What happened?!"

The small boy looked up at his mother, teary eyed, and said viciously, " _She_ started my book on fire!"

Just then, Lily's mum entered the odd scene in the corner.

"Lily Amber!" she called out in a reprimanding tone, extinguishing the flaming book with her wand.

"Lily Ember, more like," one of the older, red haired boys commented with a chuckle.

"Yes, well," Lily's mother said, laughing as well.  “Do you know what this means, Lily?” Lydia added, scooping her daughter up off the floor and into her arms.  “You've done magic!"

Lily's grey eyes widened and she smiled.

"Congratulations, dear," the plump witch said, smiling sweetly at Lily.  "And no harm done.”

Ron looked affronted by his mother’s words and crossed his arms tightly across his chest, two streams of hot tears still rolling steadily down his red cheeks.  He clearly felt that harm _had_ been done.

“Nonsense,” Lydia said, noticing Ron’s state.  “Let me buy the book for him.  A fresh copy...this one is a bit charred.”

“Oh, no, no, I couldn’t let you -”

“Florean Fortescue’s, then,” Lydia offered instead, determined to right Lily’s wrong, even if it had been an accident.  Lily’s eyes widened excitedly at the prospect of ice cream.

“Oh, it’s very kind of you to offer, but I really couldn’t ask you -”

“I insist,” Lydia grinned.  “To celebrate Lily’s first magic.”

That did it.  The younger redheaded children were all looking expectantly up at their mother, silently begging her to agree that their immediate futures should involve ice cream.  Ron had even stopped crying.  His mother sighed.

“Oh...alright, then.”

The children erupted in a victorious cheer as two of the sons took their mother by the hands and  led her eagerly out onto the cobblestoned street.  Lydia followed beside, Lily still in her arms.

“I'm Molly Weasley, by the way," she added, still being dragged by her sons as the group paraded up Diagon Alley towards the ice cream shop.  "And this is George...no, wait, Fred, that's George, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Ginny and Ron."

"Lovely to meet all of you," said Lily's mother.  "Lydia Lestrange, and this -”

Lydia paused, agitated, as Molly Weasley’s eyebrows flew up and vanished under her hair upon hearing her last name.

“One should not be so quick to judge another based purely on the name one carries,” Lydia answered coolly.  “Our relation to the Death Eaters with whom we share our surname is very distant, which is, I assume, what prompted your impolite reaction.  You know as well as I do that all the old families are interrelated.”

Molly seemed stunned, temporarily lost for words, but in an instant Lydia’s demeanor became cheerful once again.

“Ah, here we are!” she announced as they arrived at the door of Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour.  “Queue up, then.  Get anything you’d like.”

Molly grimaced uncomfortably but the Weasley children and Lily all rushed to be first in line.

Once everyone had a cone in hand, piled high with many scoops of all flavours of ice cream, the crew crowded around one of the patio tables situated on the alley just outside the parlour.

There were few things Lily loved more than ice cream from Florean Fortescue’s, but she’d barely gotten a taste of her banana and butterbeer flavoured treat when a particularly vigorous lick caused the scoops to topple off her cone and splatter into a melty heap all over the hot cobblestones below her.

She looked down at her ruined ice cream forlornly, tears welling up in her big, grey eyes.  But before a single one could well over, a new cone appeared suddenly in her little hand.

"Here, Lily Ember,” Charlie said gently, giving her his ice cream.

Lily didn’t care that Charlie had already licked it.  She didn’t even care that it was strawberry.  She smiled at him hugely, impressed by his ability to share when she never wanted to share _anything_.  Especially not ice cream.  Charlie smiled back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Molly is uncomfortable at being invited out for ice cream because she knows she can’t really spare any money for treats when she just got done buying school supplies for Bill and Charlie [not to mention that it would’ve been Charlie’s first year and he would’ve needed a wand and everything...] and she’s equally reluctant to let Lydia pay. On the other hand, the Weasley kids probably rarely, if ever, get taken out for treats and since most of them are so young, they start drooling at the offer and Molly has little choice but to say yes.
> 
> I doubt this is the first time that Lily did ANY magic. We learn from Pottermore that even babies will perform small acts of magic like wrapping their blankets more tightly around themselves or pulling down favourite toys from unreachable shelves. That said, this is her first blatant display of magic, and I imagine this would be cause for celebration among wizarding families, similar to other childhood milestones like learning to walk or losing a tooth.
> 
> Do you think Lily’s distant relation to the Lestranges is plausible? I know most of the “pureblood” families were intermarried, but I imagine some of the individuals who were blasted off the Black family tree kept their names and went on to have families of their own. Was Molly’s reaction in character for her? Please let me know your thoughts with a comment. Thanks for reading!


	3. No Place Like the Burrow

**August 1987**

“This is _stupid_ ,” Fred complained from high overhead, throwing the battered old Quaffle he was holding towards the ground in disgust.

Percy, Fred, George, and Ron all sat mounted on old broomsticks, hovering above Ginny and Lily in the orchard beside the Burrow.  The knees of Ginny’s robes were grass-stained and Lily was panting to catch her breath.  The boys wouldn’t let them play Quidditch; instead, they had been relegated to the ground where their job was to retrieve the Quaffle if it ever got thrown too far out of the clearing by accident.  Ginny and Lily were not happy about their positions, but they knew they wouldn’t be allowed to play any other way.

“I mean, really, what’s the point in playing Quidditch if there aren’t any Bludgers?!” Fred went on, landing lightly on the ground with George following to land beside him.

“What’s the point in playing Quidditch if you can’t even _fly_?” Lily whispered to Ginny, rolling her eyes.

Fred must not have heard her because in that instant, his eyes met George’s and identical smiles spread across their faces.

“I think I know where we can find some Bludgers, George.”

“That’s funny, Fred.  I was just thinking the same thing,” George answered, brown eyes glowing mischievously.

“No,” Percy interjected firmly.  “No way.  You both _know_ you’re not supposed to touch Charlie’s Quidditch things.  And what if one of them gets away and a Muggle sees it?  What then?  And Bludgers are dangerous!  You’ll get hurt!”

“Come on, Perce!” Fred grinned.  “How’re we ever going to become Beaters for Gryffindor if we don’t practice?”

“Fine,” Percy answered, sticking his nose in the air.  “Kill yourselves, then.  But Ginny and Lily are coming with me.  Come on, girls.”

Neither of them moved.

“I want to practice, too,” Lily protested.  “I know how to fly!”  It was true enough.  Lily had had her very own Cleansweep since she was five.

“Me too!” Ginny huffed.

“No, you don’t, Ginny.  Come on,” argued Percy, turning to go back to the house.

“No!” Ginny replied stubbornly, her tiny arms crossed tightly over her chest.  “You can’t tell me what to do!”

Fred and George snickered.  “She’s got you there, Perce,” said George.

“I can tell Mum,” Percy threatened.

“Oh no you won’t!” Fred shot back.  “Don’t you remember what happened the last time you tried to tattle?”

Percy fumed and threw his broom aside, his fists clenched at his sides.  After a moment, he conceded defeat, turned on his heel and stormed off through the trees, subconsciously touching a hand to his backside in painful memory of some prior prank as he went.

“Good,” Fred said, smiling deviously as he watched Percy stomp away.  “You lot wait here.  We’ll be right back.”

Fred and George dropped their own brooms and vanished through the trees behind Percy.  Some minutes later, George reappeared from behind an apple tree, grinning.  Ron, Ginny and Lily followed him through the trees, stealthily approaching the stone broom shed where Fred was already waiting.

“Okay,” George whispered.  “Lily, Ginny, Ron – you three stand watch while Fred and me get the Bludgers.”

“Hey!” Ron protested.  “I want to help you.  I don’t want to stand watch with _them_.  They’re _girls_.”

At this, Ginny stomped hard on Ron’s foot, Lily giggled and, grudgingly, Ron turned his back on the broom shed.  Lily stared out over the yard intently, keeping her eyes peeled for any sign of grown-ups while Fred and George noisily struggled to extract the heavy trunk full of Quidditch balls that Charlie kept in the broom shed.  Once they managed to get it out, the twins ran as quickly as they could towards the paddock, awkwardly carrying the trunk between them as the other three followed.

George and Fred dropped the trunk in the clearing amongst their abandoned brooms and sighed, smiling.  When she first met them, Lily hadn’t been able to tell them apart, but looking at them now it seemed obvious that Fred had a few more freckles across his nose than George did, and that George’s hair was just a shade darker than Fred’s.

Fred opened the trunk and picked up the Beaters’ bats that were stored inside amongst the Quaffle, Bludgers and Snitch.  He handed one to George and kept the other for himself.

“Probably best to just let out one for right now,” George said to Fred as he made to undo the latch keeping the black iron ball restrained in the trunk.

“Probably best if you lot stand back,” Fred grinned, pointing his bat at Ginny, Lily and Ron.  Then, he unhooked the lock on the Bludger and quickly leapt back as the heavy ball shot off into the air and over the trees.

Lily put a hand over her eyes to shield them from the sinking evening sun as she watched the Bludger soar away into the distance.  Before long she had lost sight of it completely.  She spun around, trying to relocate it, when…

_THWACK!_

***

“- dropped her off this morning…says she can’t have Lily running all about Madam Malkin’s while it’s so busy, but she gets bored locked up inside the shop all day…never married, you know, and Lily’s father lives all the way up in Cumbria, poor dear, so of course I said we could take her.”

“And explain to me one more time –“

“Your _sons_ thought it would be a good idea to let a Bludger loose in the orchard.”

“Which sons?”

“Guess.”

“And it hit her?”

“Square in the back.”

Lily blinked several times as she tried to get a bearing on her surroundings.  She was lying down on something soft and squashy and something cool and wet was spread across her forehead.  She blinked again and saw Mrs. Weasley hovering beside her, dabbing her brow with a damp cloth and Mr. Weasley standing behind, both of them looking concerned.  After another moment she made out the figure of one of the twins standing against the far wall.  She thought was George, though she couldn’t be sure from where she was lying.  Either way, he was looking remorseful.

“That’s it,” Mrs. Weasley encouraged gently as Lily began to sit up.  “No lasting damage done, I don’t think.”

“Thank goodness those Quidditch balls are old,” Mr. Weasley added.  “A freshly charmed Bludger would’ve cracked six ribs, I bet.”

Lily sat up straight and stretched cautiously.  It certainly _felt_ as though she’d cracked six ribs.

“She’s awake now, George,” Mrs. Weasley said in much harsher tones, turning around to look at him.  “Off to your room.  And no sneaking off to find Fred, either.  If I hear so much as a creaking stair -”

“I know, I know,” George moaned, slumping up the stairs to his bedroom.  “Glad you’re alright, Lily,” he added over the banister before vanishing onto the next landing.

Despite the throbbing ache in her back, Lily smiled.  She loved her own parents, and she knew they loved her, but there was just something about being at the Weasleys’ that made her feel safe and well looked after.  She liked seeing Mr. and Mrs. Weasley together, even when they bickered, and most of all she liked being around all the other children.  Lily didn’t have any brothers or sisters of her own, but she often pretended that the Weasleys were her siblings, too, and that the ginger hair and freckles had simply missed her, somehow.

As Mrs. Weasley bustled off to the kitchen to fix tea, Lily sighed contentedly, in spite of her sore shoulder blades.  There was no place like the Burrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a glimpse into how Lily fell in with the Weasley’s, even after the incident in Diagon Alley. Does it fit with how you imagine summers at the Burrow? Does it make sense that Mrs. Weasley would agree to look after Lily sometimes? Please let me know with a comment! Thanks for reading. :)


	4. School Robes and Wand Woods

**August 1991**

“Ah, Lily!” came Madam Malkin’s voice from behind a rack of dress robes.  Lily’s mother worked alongside Madam Malkin as a seamstress and designer, so naturally Madam Malkin recognized her when she entered the shop.

“Hello Madam Malkin.”

“Lydia told me you’d be coming in for your school robes today.  I can hardly believe it...eleven already and starting at Hogwarts!”  Madam Malkin smiled warmly.  “Right this way, dear...”

Lily followed the witch and was measured for her robes.  As she was stepping off the footstool which she had been measured on, a boy about her age with fair hair and a pointed face entered the shop, looking strangely familiar.  Lily studied him curiously, trying to place him, until his eyes caught hers and she turned away quickly, slipping off to look at the dress robes and Quidditch robes.

Not too long after the first boy had entered, another boy with unruly black hair and glasses walked in.  The two began to talk, and Lily, unable to keep herself from eavesdropping, listened quietly from behind a rack of violet dress robes.  The pair discussed Quidditch, what house they would be sorted into at Hogwarts and whether those of Muggle parentage should be allowed into the school.  The darker haired boy seemed confused.

“Well, I’ll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose,” said the pale, drawling boy.  The bespectacled boy left, and Lily stepped out from the robe rack she had been looking through.  The boy stared at her questioningly.

“Hogwarts, too?” Lily asked, smiling, ignoring the boy’s disdainful look.

“Yes,” he replied, looking down on her from atop a footstool.  “It would’ve been Durmstrang, but Mother thought it was too far away from home.”

“I see,” Lily answered, unsure of what else to say. 

She stared around awkwardly for a moment before remembering something she had heard the boy say during his previous conversation a few minutes ago.

“You play Quidditch, then?” Lily started.  “So do I.  And you said you have your own broom, too?  What kind-”

The boy cut across her question with a raised eyebrow and a questioning glare.

“Didn’t your mother ever tell you that it’s _rude_ to eavesdrop?” he asked slowly.

“No,” Lily answered.  “She encouraged it.”

He seemed unable to tell if she was kidding or not, but at any rate this seemed to sway his attitude in her favor, however slightly.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“What’s _your_ name?” Lily shot back. 

“Draco,” he answered, extending his hand to Lily.  “Draco Malfoy.”

She squeezed his hand.  “Lily Carling-“

“All finished, dear,” interrupted Madam Malkin.

“Anyway, I’m to meet my mother at Ollivander’s,” Draco said to Lily, stepping down from the footstool and passing by her to walk out the door.

“That’s where I’m headed, too,” Lily called after him.  “I’ll walk there with you.”

Draco looked annoyed, but Lily followed him out of the shop anyway.

“So, do you know what house you’ll be in?” Draco asked as the pair headed up the alley.

“Well, no one really _knows_ what house they’ll be in, do they?” Lily responded matter-of-factly.  “But with any luck I’ll make Slytherin or Ravenclaw.  I don’t suppose Gryffindor would be too bad either, but can you imagine being put in Hufflepuff?”

“I think I’d leave,” Draco answered very seriously.

Lily laughed brightly and Draco smirked.

“Slytherin for me,” he went on, still looking smug.  “All my family has been.  _Your_ parents were our kind, weren’t they?”

“Of course,” Lily answered defensively, somewhat taken aback.  Who would just _ask_ someone a question like that?

“I really don’t think they should let the other sort in, do you?”

“I don’t know,” replied Lily, shrugging uncomfortably at the odd question.  “I mean, most of the Muggles I know are a bit thick.  Totally oblivious to what’s going on around them and _very_ unaccepting of magic.  I’m not really supposed to talk about it, so don’t tell anyone, but...well...one of my uncles is a squib.”

Draco grimaced.

“I know.  And with our blood being as pure as it is...ugh.  In any case, a couple of my cousins are Muggles and I can’t say I like them very much.  They make fun of me because I’m a witch, like _I’m_ the weird one.  I hate it.  I don’t think any decent witch or wizard should’ve married a Muggle in the first place.  I think the two worlds are best left alone.”

“Exactly,” Draco nodded in agreement.

“But,” Lily continued in a firm tone, “Muggle-borns _do_ have magic in them, so I don’t see why they shouldn’t be let in.”

At this Draco scowled and they continued on in complete silence.

Outside the wand shop stood a man who looked very much like Draco, only taller.  The man studied Lily’s face intently as she approached.  Lily averted her eyes, wishing that he’d stop staring.

“Miss Carling-Lestrange,” the man muttered in a smooth, drawling voice.  It wasn’t a question.

“Yes?” she said, looking up, confused.

“How lucky you are, Lily, to carry the names of _two_ ancient houses.  You’ll be placed in Slytherin, I have no doubt.  Is your mother well?”

Lily hesitated.

“Yes.”

“You don’t recognize me, do you?”

Lily shook her head, although it seemed blatant that the was Draco’s father.  How he knew Lydia, Lily had no idea.  His lips curled upward in a smile.

"Lucius Malfoy,” he said, nodding his head. 

Mr. Malfoy’s enigmatic behavior was making Lily uncomfortable.  She eyed him for a moment before muttering, “How do you know my mum?” 

“Well, let’s just say the Malfoys have always been close friends with the other wizarding families of proper heritage.  Virgil Lestrange is your grandfather, is he not?  He and my father were good friends during their Hogwarts days.  Both Slytherins, of course.”

Now that she thought about it, Lily seemed to remember hearing the name _Malfoy_ fairly frequently at her grandparents’ house when she was younger.

"Your parents were both at Hogwarts with me, as well, although I was a few years their senior,” Mr. Malofy went on.  “At any rate, you and Draco played together on occasion when you were quite small.” 

A foggy memory of a miniature, solid stone play castle situated in the back lawn of a great dark mansion floated across Lily’s mind’s eye.  There had been giant white birds there, she remembered...albino peacocks that had frightened her.

“I _thought_ you looked familiar,” Lily said, turning to Draco and studying his features anew.

Lucius’ lip curled upward. 

Just then, a woman that could have only been Draco’s mother walked out of the wand shop with her nose in the air. 

“See you in Slytherin,” Draco said coolly as he walked away, flanked on either side by his mother and father.

Lily smiled as she waved goodbye, but it wasn’t genuine.  If she was honest with herself, she was terrified for her Sorting.  What if she wasn’t good enough for Ravenclaw _or_ Slytherin?  What if she _was_ put in Hufflepuff?  She tried to convince herself that that would be okay.  Hufflepuff was Grandma Asteria’s old house, after all, and she’d always had wonderful things to say about it.  Or what if she was put in Gryffindor and everyone expected her to be as brave as Grandpa Alton had been when he had fought against Grindelwald?  She couldn’t bear to think about it.  She took a deep breath to clear her head before stepping into the wand shop. 

It was quite dark inside.  The sunlight streamed in weakly through the dusty windows, and a single lamp was lit on the front desk.  The walls were covered from floor to ceiling in wand boxes.  Lydia was sitting on the lone spindly chair in the corner, leafing through a small, old book. 

Just as Lily was going to have a closer look at some of the wands against the wall, a man with wild grey hair and large, eerie eyes stepped out of the shadows.

“Good afternoon,” he said slowly.

“Oh, hello…Mr. Ollivander,” Lily said in surprised reply.

“Miss Carling-Lestrange.  Yes...let’s see.  Hold out your wand arm, please.”

Lily stuck out her left arm.

“Very good.”

Mr. Ollivander began measuring every length of her, and after a short while he abandoned the tape measure, which continued measuring in his absence, and started pulling boxes off the shelves.  He placed the large pile of boxes he’d collected on the desk and then said to the tape measure, “that will do.”  The tape fell to the floor.

Mr. Ollivander opened the top box in the pile and pulled out a wand. 

“Try this,” he said.  “Redwood and dragon heartstring.  Twelve inches, bendy.”

Lily raised the wand to wave it but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of her hand before she could do so.

“No, no.  This one.  Beech and unicorn hair.  Ten and three quarter inches, quite stiff.”

Mr. Ollivander barely had the wand in her hand before he took it away again.

“Maple and unicorn hair.  Nine and a half inches.”

Lily was managed to give this wand a proper wave, but Mr. Ollivander shook his head.

“Perhaps this?  Hazel and phoenix feather.  Ten inches, whippy.”

And on it went.  Six failed wands later, Mr. Ollivander pulled a dusty dark blue box off the shelf and withdrew from it a very handsome wand.

“Ah, rowan and dragon heartstring.  Eleven and a half inches.  Swishy.”

The rowan wand felt warm in Lily’s hand.  She waved the wand through the air with a flourish, causing a shower of sparkling, spring green and pale yellow stars to rain down through the air onto the old wooden floor of the shop. 

"Well, I think your wand has found you, Miss Carling-Lestrange.” 

Lily smiled as Ollivander put the wand back in its navy box and handed it to her.  Lydia paid seven galleons, and Mr. Ollivander bowed them from his shop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Draco is such a challenge to write well and I don’t know that I’ve done him justice here. However, if you’ll recall from the prelude, Lily’s grandparents on her mother’s side thought You-Know-Who had the right idea and Lily mentions that they were friends with a lot of the families that went on to be Death Eaters. Well, here you have it. With the pureblood families that actually cared about being pureblooded being so rare, it seems to me their circle of friends would be rather limited and thus it seems plausible to me that Draco and Lily would have crossed paths as very young children, being as close in age as they were. Do you agree?
> 
> Do you think it seems reasonable that there would be a spectrum of attitudes towards Muggles from within the wizarding community? For example, there are people like Lily’s grandparents who don’t necessarily think all Muggles should be obliterated, but they DO think wizards are superior to Muggles and that the two sides shouldn’t mix. Then you’ve got people like Lucius Malfoy who are dedicated supporters of Voldemort and are prepared to do anything to support his cause. Thoughts? Please let me know with a comment!


	5. The Hogwarts Express

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of the text in this chapter comes directly from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I do not claim to have written it.

**1 September 1991**

September 1st came quickly.  Lily was very excited to finally be experiencing all the wonderful things she’d been told about going to Hogwarts: running through the barrier at King’s Cross Station, the Sorting Ceremony and Hogwarts Castle itself.  She was a little bit nervous, but mostly she couldn’t wait.

After she’d reached Platform Nine and Three-Quarters and said good bye to her mother, she stood for a moment to observe the crowd.  There were lots of owls, cats, broomsticks, books, and students scattered across the platform.  Just as Lily was thinking what a beautiful and amazing sight the platform was and how excellent this year was going to be she was hit in the back by an oncoming luggage cart.  She swung around to see a boy steering the cart, and his mother behind him, a baby bundled in her arms.

“Sorry!” Lily said, surprised.

“That’s okay,” the boy said with an Irish accent.  He had curly brown hair and bright brown eyes.  Lily noticed a few light freckles across his pale nose.  “We should probably move out of the way...” he added.

“Oh, right!” Lily said, moving her cart out from in front of the barrier.

The train whistle blew and students began scrambling to get aboard. 

“Better hurry, James,” the boy’s mother said, hugging him tightly and kissing his cheek.  “Send us an owl straight away once you’ve been Sorted.”

“I will,” James assured her.  “Bye, Mam!”  He waved as she vanished into the steam billowing across the platform.

“Want to find a compartment, then?” James asked Lily cheerily.  “And what’s your name, by the way?”

“I’m Lily, and I’m _supposed_ to be meeting my friend, Tabby,” she explained, craning her neck to look for her in the crowd.  “But I don’t see her.  Maybe she’s already on the train.  Let’s go see.”

Lily followed James onto the train, peering through each compartment door as she dragged her trunk and the cage containing her owl, Elijah, up the aisle, searching for her friend.  As they passed a compartment that was ringing with a chorus of high-pitched laughter, the flip of a long, dark brown ponytail caught Lily’s eye.  Tabby turned and spotted Lily at the same moment, but offered nothing more than an apologetic shrug that her compartment was already full.

Unlike most young witches and wizards, Lily had not been home-schooled.  Instead, she had attended a small, one-room school which had been established by an elderly witch, Mrs. Blanchflower, to teach any wizarding children in the area basic skills like reading and writing before they started at Hogwarts.  There were only a handful of other students, but Tabby Meliflua had been one of them.  And considering she and Lily were the only ones that would be in the same year once they finally left for Hogwarts, the girls had become fast friends.  Just a few days prior they had been sitting together on the edge of the pond at Feverfew Vale, expressing their worries and excitement at what their first year at Hogwarts would bring.  They had agreed to meet on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters and board the train together so that they wouldn’t have to spend the journey alone.  But Tabby seemed to have forgotten this agreement, because there she sat, surrounded by the kind of giggling, gossiping girls that she and Lily had so often made fun of. 

Feeling a little hurt, Lily continued down the aisle behind James.  The pair found a compartment, stowed their trunks and collapsed into their seats just as the steam engine began to roll out of the station.  Lily stared out the window.

“So, Lily, do you know what house you’d like to be in?” James asked brightly, sitting opposite her.

 _Why must everyone keep asking me that?_  She was nervous enough about her Sorting as it was.  She explained her preferences to James and how her relatives had been well distributed between all four houses during their Hogwarts years.

“Me mam was a Gryffindor,” James said.  “But Dad was a Ravenclaw.  I’d like to be in Ravenclaw, but I think I might be more of a Hufflepuff...”

“That’s too bad,” Lily muttered.

“Sorry?”

“Nothing,” Lily answered quickly.  Then, with an overly-polite tone of curiosity, she asked, “Was that your mum with you on the platform?”

“Yeah, and me baby sister, Erin,” James said.  “She’s only just turned one.  Dad couldn’t come, though.  He’s so busy with work and all.”

“Oh, what does he do?” Lily inquired.

“No idea,” James shrugged.  “He’s in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic, so he’s not allowed to talk about his work.  We’re going to a Kenmare Kestrels match over Christmas, though.  He’s already promised!”

“You like Quidditch?” Lily asked eagerly, leaning forward.  “I support Puddlemere United.  Do you play at all?  _I_ do.”

“No, but I draw,” James answered with a grin.  Seeing Lily’s perplexed expression, he dug a leather-bound notepad from his bag and flipped it open to reveal an emerald-green shield with two yellow K’s across the front and a very realistic drawing of a broom and set of Quidditch balls.

“That’s brilliant!” Lily exclaimed, genuinely impressed.  “I’m a horrible drawer.”

“I’m going to learn to charm the broom and balls to fly around first thing when we get to Hogwarts,” James told her confidently, pulling his wand out of his pocket and waving it with a flourish.  Purplish steam puffed out of the end and hung over them like a cloud for a moment before dissipating.   

"Mine would probably set carpet to the fire if I tried that,” Lily grinned, producing her own wand.  “Rowan and dragon heartstring,” she said affectionately.  “What’s yours?”

“Black walnut and dragon heartstring,” James answered, equally proud.

They chattered on and on, discussing what subjects they would most enjoy at Hogwarts, books and all manner of topics in between.  Talking to James was easy and Lily was no longer upset that Tabby had forgotten her; instead, she was happy that she’d had the whole train ride to make a new friend.

Before long, the lunch cart came around and James and Lily feasted on treats from the trolley, swapping Chocolate Frog Cards and bravely sampling odd colours of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans.  A while later, a bushy haired girl came around asking them if they’d seen a toad.  And in what seemed like no time at all, they found themselves changing into their school robes and pulling into Hogsmeade Station.

Students hustled off the train excitedly.  First years were summoned towards a very large, hairy man carrying a lantern.  “Firs’ years!  Firs’ years over here!” he called.  “C’mon, follow me - any more firs’ years?  Mind yer step, now!  Firs’ years follow me!”

Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path.  It was very dark on either side.  Nobody spoke much.

“Yeh’ll get yer firs’ sight o’ Hogwarts in a sec,” Hagrid called over his shoulder, “jus’ round this bend here.”

There was a loud “Oooooh!”

The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake.  Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, it’s windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

“No more’n four to a boat!” Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore.  Lily and James stuck close together in the bustle and searched for an unoccupied boat.  Lily spotted Tabby and made to join her, but she was quickly followed into her boat by a pug-faced girl and two of the others who had been sitting with her on the train.  In the end, James found a vessel that already had two other first years in it.

“Can we join you?” he asked.

“I suppose,” a dark boy with slanting brown eyes and high cheekbones answered indifferently.

James and Lily shrugged to each other and climbed in.  Hagrid shouted “FORWARD!” and the boats pushed off the shore all at once, shuttling the first years away towards the castle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, looking back, I probably should have named my OCs something other than James and Lily. I’m not trying to foreshadow anything and these characters have absolutely nothing to do with Harry’s parents. They’re just two names that I’m fond of and when I started writing this story it didn’t really occur to me that I should come up with something a bit more distinguishing. But it’s too late for me to change it now, as these characters are forever ingrained in my brain as James and Lily. It’s not like they’re uncommon names or anything, so I’m sticking by the decision.


	6. The Sorting

**1 September 1991**

“Abbott, Hannah!” Professor McGonagall called.

A girl with blonde pigtails and a round pink face stumbled out of line and walked towards the Sorting Hat.  McGonagall placed it on her head, causing most of her head and face to go out of sight.

After a moment of deliberation the hat yelled out, “HUFFLEPUFF!”

Hannah stood up and headed for the cheering Hufflepuff table.

“Bones, Susan!” became a Hufflepuff as well.

Lily stood beside James, picking at her fingernails nervously, tugging at her robes and trying not to hyperventilate.  James didn’t look very worried.  In fact, he was hardly paying attention to the Sorting at all, focusing his attention instead on the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall which he was staring at with his mouth hanging open in awe.  Lily was relieved to see that most of her other classmates at least looked a little nervous.

Two more names were called, both were sorted into Ravenclaw and Lily became more and more anxious.  Bulstrode, Millicent became a Slytherin and Lily knew it wouldn’t be long before...

“Carling-Lestrange, Lily!” McGonagall called.

Lily’s heart pounded furiously in her chest as she walked to the front of the Hall.  She was certain she was going to faint and was therefore relieved when she finally made it to the stool and was able to sit down.  Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on Lily’s head and Lily took a deep breath.  All she could see was the black of the hat.  Then she heard a voice.

“Let’s see...” it said.  “Ah...another Lestrange!  Slytherin, then?  Or perhaps not.  Hmm...you’re intelligent...yes, yes...and determined, very ambitious, a strong desire to be the best...but where to put you?  Let’s see...yes, you’d most prosper in Slytherin or Ravenclaw.  Difficult...very difficult...you’d do well in either, you know...very peculiar...very difficult.” 

_Get on with it_ , Lily thought.  She didn’t know how much longer she could stand not knowing.

“In a hurry, are we?  Well then, let’s have it be, RAVENCLAW!”

Lily breathed out and smiled, relief washing over her as she headed towards the cheering Ravenclaw table.  _Ravenclaw,_ Lily mused happily.  She chatted eagerly with some of her new house mates for several moments before looking up to see James heading to the front.

The hat had only been on his head for a few seconds when it shouted, “RAVENCLAW!”  He grinned broadly and took a seat next to Lily, giving her a thumbs up.

“Malfoy, Draco!” was next.

The hat had barely touched his head when it announced, “SLYTHERIN!”

Malfoy smirked proudly and walked to his table, chin held high.

“Meliflua, Tabitha!”

Lily and Tabby had had many long discussions about what houses they would be Sorted into, and Tabby had always seemed certain that she would most definitely _not_ be put in Ravenclaw.  But the girls had agreed that even if they weren’t put in the same house, they would remain friends.  Lily hoped that would be true, but after the incident on the train today, she had her doubts. 

The Hat sat on Tabby’s head for quite some time.  Just as Lily’s attention was waning the Hat cried out, “SLYTHERIN!” and Tabitha joined Draco and the other Slytherins at their table.

Before long, Harry Potter had joined Gryffindor to much raucous applause, Lisa Turpin became a Ravenclaw, Blaise Zabini sat down at the Slytherin table and the feast began.

After the feast, Prefect Robert Hilliard led the Ravenclaw first years to their common room in West Tower.  Even though she was exhausted from the long day of travel and the feast, the enchanted, eagle-shaped knocker that guarded the Ravenclaw common room with a question made Lily giddy with excitement.  Once they were inside, she couldn’t suppress her smile.  The walls were accented with white marble, the floor was covered in a rich navy carpet spattered with gold stars, tall glass windows let in thick beams of moonlight, and there were _books._   Shelves and shelves full of books.  In that moment, Lily knew that the Sorting Hat had placed her in the correct house.  She looked over at James who was smiling just as broadly as she was.  They were home. 

Lily took one more good look around the airy common room before saying good night to James  and bounding up the steps to the girls’ dormitory.

When Lily reached the room marked “first years” she saw that robes and ties of blue and bronze had been laid out on their trunks at the ends of their beds.  She smiled again.  _Ravenclaw._

“It’s strange to finally be here, isn’t it?” came a voice so soft it was barely more than a whisper.

Lily turned to see one of her new roommates sifting through the trunk at the foot of the bed next to hers.  The girl had a tiny stature to match her quiet voice and soft brown hair that fell into her doe-ish eyes.  She extracted a pair of yellow pajamas and an old book from her trunk and looked up at Lily, smiling demurely.

“It’s even better than I thought it would be,” Lily grinned, running her fingers fondly over the silky stripes of one of her ties.  “I’m Lily, by the way.”

“Morag,” the shy girl answered.

Just then, two more girls skipped into the room, giggling cheerfully while a third girl tagged behind them, affectionately stroking her pet toad.

“Lily, was it?” one of the giggling girls asked with syrupy politeness, her shiny brown pigtails bouncing against her rosy cheeks.

Lily nodded.

“I’m Mandy,” the girl replied.  “And this is -”

“Padma,” the other girl answered, tucking a strand of straight black hair behind her ear and flashing Lily a friendly smile.

The girl with the toad didn’t say anything, so Mandy provided that she was called Lisa Turpin before making a wide-eyed, skeptical face that only Padma and Lily could see.  

Suddenly, Lily didn’t feel much like talking.  Following Morag’s cue, she found pajamas in her trunk and pulled the hangings shut around her four poster so she could change.  When she was finished, she popped her head through the curtain to offer a polite “good night” to her new roommates before snuggling up under her warm, poofy blue eiderdown.  As her head sank into the soft pillow, the weight of the day’s excitement settled over her comfortably, and not even Mandy and Padma’s chatter could keep Lily from falling instantly into a deep, dream-filled sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t know if the Sorting would be more stressful for the children who had grown up hearing about it, or the Muggleborns who had no idea what was happening. What do you think? Please let me know with a comment!


	7. The Map

**1st Year: November 1991**

“Can you help me with this after dinner?” Tabby pleaded one day at the end of their Transfiguration lesson.  “You know I’m hopeless at Transfiguration.”

They’d been assigned an essay on the key steps of successfully transfiguring a spool into a thimble. 

"I guess so," Lily agreed reluctantly, shoving her books into her bag.

"Do you think I can see what you've written so far?" Tabby went on desperately.  "Just to...you know, get some ideas?"

" _Don't_ just copy it," Lily warned, offering the beginnings of her essay to Tabby and dashing off to her next class without another word.

Even though they’d been sorted into separate houses, Lily and Tabby still sat together when they shared classes and spent some of their free time together on the weekends, but more and more Lily was noticing that Tabby only talked to her when she needed help with her homework.  She tried not to let it bother her too much, but it was hard to ignore when Tabby was always parading down the corridors with Pansy Parkison, Daphne Greengrass and the rest of the obnoxious Slytherin girls.

Lily headed down to the Great Hall later than usual that evening as she’d been busy discussing some of the finer points of levitation with Professor Flitwick, and when she looked over at the Slytherin table she didn’t see Tabby anywhere. 

Lily wondered if Tabby had finished eating already and headed over to the Slytherin table to check.

“Draco, you haven’t seen Tabby, have you?” she asked.

“No,” Draco said shortly, going back to his plate.  It was then Lily realized that everyone within a twelve foot radius of Draco was staring at her.  Cheeks reddening, she quickly turned and went to sit at the Ravenclaw table.

She slumped down next to James who was busy eating a piece of pie.

“Where’ve you been?” he asked, wiping a bit of stray blueberry off his cheek.

“I stayed behind in Charms,” she sighed.  “Have I missed dinner?”

"Yeah,” replied James apologetically, shoveling another spoonful of blueberries into his mouth.

“Oh well…” 

Lily scooped some pudding onto her plate and the two ate in silence for the next ten minutes.  Lily knew she shouldn’t have been so bothered by Tabby’s behaviour, or so surprised.  She should have known that Tabby would want to make new friends once they arrived at Hogwarts.  She should have realized as much when she was Sorted into Ravenclaw and Tabby was put in Slytherin.  She should have realized it on the Hogwarts Express.  Lily knew all these things, but it was still hard for her to see her former best friend slipping away and feeling helpless to stop it.

When James and Lily had both finished their desserts, they headed for the Entrance Hall.

“Are you alright?” James asked.  “You’re being awfully quiet.”

“Just thinking, you know.  I can’t find Tabby.  She needs my help with that Transfiguration essay…and come to think of it I gave her the beginning of my essay to look over.  I really do need to find her.”

"We can help you find who you’re looking for, I’ll bet.”

Lily and James both whipped around.  There stood the Weasley twins, grinning and looking as mischievous as ever.

“And how might you do that?” Lily asked skeptically.

"We’ll show you,” Fred said, smiling.

“Follow us,” George winked.

The four walked out of the Entrance Hall and up the marble staircase.  They kept together until they reached the hallway that led to West Tower. 

“I think I’m going to go finish my homework,” James said.

“Alright then,” said Lily.  “See you in a bit.”

James headed for Ravenclaw Tower and Lily continued on with the twins until they reached the seventh floor.  The twins stopped in front of a painting of a fat lady, and George said “Caput Draconis”.

The portrait swung forward to reveal a hole in the wall.  Fred and George climbed through, pulling Lily with them.  Lily’s eyes widened once she was inside.

“This isn’t your _common room_ , is it?” she asked, shocked.

“’Course it is,” said Fred.

“Well I’m not allowed to be in here, am I?” Lily questioned frantically, terrified of breaking a rule and potentially losing precious house points for Ravenclaw in the process.  “It’s for Gryffindors only, isn’t it?”

“Who says?” George said.

This was a good point.  Lily had never been expressly told that students weren’t allowed in common rooms other than their own, although it did seem like a very well-known, unwritten rule.  Still, she was here now, and she didn’t see any professors lurking behind arm chairs waiting to leap out and dock her points, so she shrugged her shoulders and followed the boys.

“Wait a minute,” she said as the twins started up the staircase on the left of the tower.  “We’re not going up to your _dormitory_ are we?  I _know_ that’s not allowed.”

"Sure it is.  Girls can come up to the boys’ dormitories, but not the other way around,” Fred said as they climbed further up. 

“If a boy tries to get into the girls dormitories the staircase will collapse,” said George.

“Trust us, we’ve tried.”

“Here we are,” George said, opening the door marked third years.

The three stepped inside.  The room was a complete mess.  Clothes, robes, parchment scraps, broken ink bottles and candy wrappers littered every inch of the room.  The hangings on one of the four poster beds looked as though they had sustained serious burn damage.

“Come look at this, Lily,” Fred said, pulling a ragged piece of parchment from his trunk and spreading it on his bed.  (Lily wasn’t surprised to see his bed was the one with singed hangings.)

“It’s a just blank old bit of parchment,” she said, unimpressed.

"Ha!  Did you hear that, George?  ‘Just an old bit of parchment’, she says!  Show her.”

George pulled out his wand, tapped the paper and said “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”

Instantly, ink appeared on the parchment at the tip of George’s wand and began spreading across the sheet like thin, spidery vines.  Then curly green script appeared at the top of the page.  It read:

_Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs_

_Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers_

_are proud to present_

_The Marauder’s Map_

Lily surveyed the map as Fred and George looked at her expectantly. 

“This is a map of Hogwarts!” she exclaimed as comprehension washed over her.  “And there we are!”

She pointed to a set of tiny figures huddled in the Gryffindor boys’ dormitory.

"Does this map show _everyone_ in the castle?”

“Everyone,” the twins said together.

Lily stared at them, awestruck, as Tabby and the Transfiguration essay they were to write slipped completely out of her thoughts.

“This is fantastic!  Look, there’s Ravenclaw Tower!  And James is there.  Anthony Goldstein is up in the Owlery.  And the Grey Lady is in the Entrance Hall with the Fat Friar.  And are those the kitchens?  You don’t suppose we could get into the _kitchens_ , do you?”

“Oh, the kitchens are nothing,” said George.

“We’re down there all the time,” Fred said.

“House-elves run it, and they practically throw the food at you, they’re so willing to serve it.”

"Can we go down there now?” Lily asked excitedly.  “I missed dinner.”

“Sure,” George said.  “Let’s go.”

“It’s a bit passed curfew,” Fred said as they climbed back through the portrait hole.  “Excellent.  This’ll give us a chance to show you how to sneak around properly.”

“First, if you get caught, be sure to look innocent,” George instructed.

Lily looked up at him with big, sad, grey eyes and a sort of frightened but sweet expression on her face.  She looked positively eleven.

“Perfect,” George beamed.

“Naturally, you’ve got to be stealthy,” said Fred.  “Can you walk without making a noise?”

“Easy,” Lily said.

“Next, a thorough knowledge of the castle and its passageways is essential,” said Fred.

“But you don’t have to worry about that when you’re with us,” said George.  “We’ve nearly memorized the whole Marauder’s Map.”

The twins continued teaching Lily proper sneaking technique all the way down to the cellar.  They walked down a corridor lined with paintings of food, until they came to a picture of a bowl of fruit.  Fred tickled the pear, which giggled and turned into a green doorknob.  He pulled open the door and they stepped inside.

It was like a busier, less vast version of the Great Hall.  There were four tables directly beneath the four house tables in the Hall.  There was a massive brick fireplace at one end, brass pots and pans piled high in every corner, and over a hundred house-elves scuttling about doing their work. 

"Sirs!” a voice squeaked.  Then, out of nowhere, a house-elf appeared.

He was a bit smaller than the average house-elf, but he had the same pointy ears as all the others.  His nose was button-like and his huge round eyes were glittering eagerly up at the twins.

“Hello, Orby,” George greeted cheerfully.

“What can Orby get for you, sirs?”

“What do you want to eat, Lily?” Fred said, turning around to ask her.

“Oh…erm…a ham sandwich would be nice,” Lily said.

Fred turned back to Orby and said, “Three butterbeers and a ham sandwich, please.”

Orby bowed and then scurried off into the heart of the kitchen.  A few moments later he returned carrying a platter with three bottles of butterbeer and a huge ham sandwich.  The twins each put a bottle in the pocket of their robes, and Lily followed suit, slipping her drink into her left pocket and stuffing the large sandwich into the other.  The three thanked Orby for the food and crept back to their own common rooms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, the age-old question: can students from one house visit the common rooms of other houses? We know Harry does it on a few occasions, but I imagine it would be very rare and very frowned upon. That said, it’s the kind of school rule I could see Fred and George laughing in the face of, especially when they’re just third years. Do you agree? Do you think it’s plausible that they might have brought Lily up to their dormitory to show her the map? Please share your thoughts with a comment!


	8. Or Yet in Wise Old Ravenclaw

**1st Year: June 1992**

Lily awoke in her four poster bed one morning in early June.  Sunlight streamed in through the tall windows, but her roommates were all still sound asleep.  Lily was usually a hard sleeper, but every now and then she would wake very early in the morning with no desire to go back to bed.  She sat up, stretched and looked around the room, pondering how she and her roommates had changed over the course of their first year.

Mandy, it turned out, was cousins with popular second year, Marietta Edgecombe.  As such, she spent most of her time with Marietta’s clique, huddled in a corner of the common room poring over the latest issue of _Witch Weekly_.  As if Mandy’s ego about her social status wasn’t insufferable enough, she still managed to get top marks on nearly every assignment, despite wasting so much time with Marietta.  This drove Lily mad.    

Even though Padma had a similar girly streak, at least she was serious about her studies.  Padma earned her grades, and she, Lily and Morag often studied together in the library.  Lily was surprised to have found a good friend in Padma; she was always eager to listen when Lily was feeling chatty, but equally willing to quietly work through torturous History of Magic essays with her.

What was more, Lily respected Padma as she was the only one who made a conscious effort to include Lisa.  Lily and the other girls accepted the fact that Lisa spent most of her time hidden behind the curtains of her four poster, talking aloud to her toad more often than she talked with any of them.  But Padma never failed to invite Lisa to sit next to her at dinner or to try to persuade her to join them in the library.  More often than not, Lisa refused, but Lily still thought it was a formidable gesture on Padma’s part.

At last, Lily threw off her shiny sky blue eiderdown, stretched once more, got dressed and then headed downstairs to the common room below.

The Ravenclaw common room was an airy, circular room located in West Tower. It had high glass windows that had been soldered together in diamond shapes overlooking the Hogwarts grounds.  The ceiling and floor were both midnight blue and spattered with sparkling gold stars. There was a white marble statue of Rowena Ravenclaw at one end.

Lily half expected to see James sitting in one of the leather chairs in front of the marble fireplace.  Despite the fact that Lily got on well with Padma and Morag, she considered James her best mate.  The two had clung together since they first met on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters so many months ago.  Neither of them knew anyone in their own house before coming to Hogwarts, so it was only natural that whenever they had to pair up in a class or sit down at lunch they did so together.  What was more, James wasn’t interested in discussing frivolous things like Padma and the other girls were.  Lily and James could talk about _important_ stuff, like the latest advancements in potioneering, or Quidditch.  They had quickly become very good friends because of it. 

When she realized James was probably still fast asleep in his dormitory, Lily decided to go for a walk.  She exited the common room, descending a tightly spiraling staircase and leaving the door with an eagle-shaped knocker behind her.  She walked slowly, looking out over the grounds through the windows and admiring the paintings and portraits as the morning sun shone brightly upon them.  The castle was peacefully quiet until she reached the first floor where voices were coming from the hospital wing.

Lily crept around the corner and peaked into the infirmary.  Sitting in two beds on the right side of the room were Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, looking bedraggled and exhausted.

“What in Merlin’s name happened to you two?” Lily exclaimed at once, rushing into the room. 

The two were about to explain when Madam Pomfrey came out of her office carrying two small goblets of potion. 

“What do you think you’re doing here, Lily?”

Madam Pomfrey had met Lily for the first time the past winter after she’d crashed bodily into the Quidditch pitch bleachers whilst flying around for fun.  (Lily ardently claimed the crash was due to a faulty school broom and not her own lack of control.)  It just so happened that several students had been stricken with nasty cases of scrofungulus that required a stay in the hospital wing at the same time Lily was being treated.  During her stay, Lily was annoyingly curious about the potions and spells the nurse used to treat her patients.  By the time Lily was well, Madam Pomfrey had grudgingly agreed to let her help by fetching bottles of potion, clean sheets, fresh pillows and the like, reasoning that it would have been silly to turn away such an eager helper when the hospital wing was so busy.

Lily started to explain her early morning wanderings to Madam Pomfrey when she interrupted.

“Oh, never mind; just bring me the bottle of wound-cleaning potion, would you?”

As Lily turned to get the bottle from one of the back cupboards, she realized there was another patient lying in a bed on the left side of the room.  Harry Potter was completely unconscious and he looked much worse than Ron or Hermione.  He had cuts on his face and hands, his head was bruised and he was quite filthy.  Lily tried not to stare as she brought the wound-cleaning potion back to Madam Pomfrey.

“Ah, thank you, dear.  I haven’t bothered cleaning up Mr. Potter’s scratches yet…  These two came in last night and since they were actually conscious, I decided to tend to them first.  Anyway, here we are…”

Madam Pomfrey went over to Harry’s bed and began to work on his cuts and bruises.  Lily sat on the foot of Ron’s bed, wide-eyed and asked, “Are you two okay?  What happened?”

The pair launched into the story without restraint.  It’s difficult to sneak by a three-headed dog, escape the grasp of a deadly plant, and play the most realistic game of wizard chess there ever was without wanting to tell someone the whole story.

“But we’re still not sure what happened to Harry,” Hermione said worriedly, finishing the tale.

“Dumbledore wouldn’t say,” added Ron, equally concerned.  “I reckon we’ll just have to wait until he wakes up to find out for sure.”

“Lily,” Madam Pomfrey said, returning from Harry’s bedside.  “They need to rest now.”

“Oh, okay,” Lily said.  She was still trying to digest the more extravagant parts of Harry, Ron and Hermione’s astonishing adventure.  “Well, I’m glad you two are alright.” 

Lily patted them both gently on the shoulders and headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lily knows Ron from all the time she spent at the Burrow when she was younger, and I imagine that Hermione got on well with a lot of the Ravenclaws, like Lily, hence Ron and Hermione being willing to tell her their whole story. And don’t forget, Dumbledore said, “What happened down in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a completely secret, so, naturally, the whole school knows.” Well, that rumour had to start somewhere, didn’t it? Why not with Lily? Any other thoughts on how the rumour may have started? Do you think Madame Pomfrey would have had student assistants? Please let me know with a comment!


	9. Flourish and Blotts

**August 1992**

It was a sunny afternoon in late August and Lily was absently roaming about Diagon Alley.  She had passed most of her summer days in a similar fashion, padding up and down the cobblestoned street, as Lydia went to work with Madam Malkin in the morning, leaving Lily free to wander as she pleased.  Tabby had even joined her on more than one occasion, and away from Hogwarts and the dividing lines of their houses, the girls had rekindled their friendship.  She hoped that wouldn’t change when they returned to school in a few days.

Lily was walking back up the street towards the Leaky Cauldron for the umpteenth time that day when she noticed a very large crowd trying to work their way into Flourish and Blotts.

 _Of course,_ Lily thought to herself.  _Gilderoy Lockhart is doing that stupid book signing today._

She went up to the window to get a closer look at the display.  It was a complete collection of Lockhart’s books, all of them grinning toothily out the shop window.  Lily was grimacing at _Voyages with Vampires_ when Lucius Malfoy shoved his way out of the shop entrance with his son close behind.

“Draco!” Lily called out after him, happy to see someone she recognized.

“Lily,” Draco acknowledged with a cool nod of his head.  Lily couldn’t help but notice that he’d grown over the summer, and that his voice had gotten deeper, too.  His smooth drawl was nearly at a level with his father’s.

“Ah, Miss Carling-Lestrange,” Mr. Malfoy smirked.  “Draco tells me you were placed in Ravenclaw.  An illustrious house, to be sure, and yet, such a shame the Sorting Hat didn’t see fit to put you in Slytherin.”

“It nearly did,” Lily mentioned hastily.  “Slytherin was its second choice -”

“Ah, but Lily, who can spare a thought for those who come in second?  A shame, truly...”

Lily turned to Draco who looked her up and down as if assessing her.  He shrugged, evidently finding no complaint.  

“Do as you please, Draco,” Lucius told his son.  “I have some business I must attend to on my own.”

“What about my broom?” Draco demanded.

“When I return,” Lucius answered coolly.  “I won’t be long.  Why don’t you and Lily go have a look while I’m gone?”

Mr. Malfoy vanished into a bustling throng of people heading down the Alley towards Flourish and Blotts, his cloak snapping behind him as he turned.  Draco and Lily made their way to Quality Quidditch Supplies.

“Look at that!” Lily exclaimed, pointing to a gorgeous racing broom in the window.

“The Nimbus Two Thousand and One,” Draco informed her.  “It’s only just been released.  Father’s buying me one,” he added haughtily.

Lily smiled.  “Can I have a go on it?  It’s _beautiful_.”

“We’ll see,” Draco answered evasively.  “I’m going to be playing Quidditch for Slytherin this year, so I’ll need a top-of-the-line broom in peak condition.”

“I’m a good flyer,” Lily assured him, but Draco looked skeptical.  Perhaps he remembered the incident last year in which Lily had crashed bodily into the Quidditch bleachers whilst flying for fun.  That had been due to the unreliable old school broom she was flying, though, not any fault of her own.  Lily was looking forward to being allowed to bring her Cleansweep to Hogwarts this year and trying out for Ravenclaw’s Quidditch team.

Lily pressed her nose to the glass, admiring the broom hungrily for several moments before Draco turned to enter the shop for a closer look.  Lily followed behind hastily.

Just as they were entering the shop, Mr. Malfoy reappeared behind them.

“It’s nice, isn’t it?” he drawled proudly, making Lily jump.  Then, in a whisper to Draco, he added, “I think I’ll buy six more for the Slytherin Quidditch team.  They won’t be able to refuse you after such a generous donation.”  Mr. Malfoy straightened up and turned to Lily.  “And perhaps you’d like one too, Lily?”

Lily’s mouth dropped open disbelievingly.  She knew it would have been more polite to refuse, but it was not every day that she was offered a brand new, high-end broomstick as a gift. 

“Yes, please, sir!” she stammered in response.

Mr. Malfoy smirked.  “Very well.”

Draco and Lily followed him to the counter.  “I’d like to order _eight_ Nimbus Two Thousand and Ones...”

Draco and Lily left the shop grinning with their new brooms in hand.  Lily knew that the only reason Mr. Malfoy bought her a broom was to show that he could, but she didn’t care, it was a Nimbus Two Thousand and One for Merlin’s sake!

After the Malfoys left Diagon Alley, Lily headed back towards the robe shop to find her mother and stow her broom.  She stopped inside the Magical Menagerie on the way to pick up some owl treats for Elijah, only to find James Mackenzie inside looking at cats.

“James!” she shouted excitedly, running towards him for a hug.

“Lily!” James answered with equal enthusiasm.

“You didn’t tell me you were going to be in Diagon Alley today,” said Lily.

“Didn’t know I was coming until this morning,” James explained, smiling.  “Mam’s finally agreed to let us get a cat!  What’s in there?” he added, noticing the large package Lily was carrying.

“Oh, you’ll never believe it!  It’s a Nimbus Two Thousand and One!  Look!” she said excitedly, pulling back a corner of brown paper to reveal the silver writing on the dark wood of the broom handle.  “I can’t wait to show Tabby.”

Lily deposited her broom in her mother’s sewing room at Madam Malkin’s before joining James and his mother and little sister while they finished shopping.  They had sundaes at Florean Fortescue’s before the Mackenzies left for home.  Lily reunited with Lydia at the robe shop and they flooed home to Feverfew Vale, Lily clutching her new broom tightly as they went, still unable to believe her incredible luck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We know that Mr. Malfoy buys new brooms for the entire Slytherin Quidditch team…do you think it’s reasonable that he would have offered Lily one, too, even if just to flaunt his wealth? Let me know with a comment! Thank you for reading. :)


	10. Quidditch Tryouts

**2nd Year: September 1992**

Lily returned to the common room after dinner at the end of their first week of second year and saw that a new message had been posted on the notice board.  It was handwritten on a scrap of old parchment and read:

_Quidditch Tryouts_

_Next Friday, 5-6 PM_

_Available Positions: Keeper, Chaser_

_Please see Malachi Covette if interested._

“I hope you’re coming, Lily,” a voice behind her said.

She turned around to see Malachi Covette, the seventh year boy who was captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.  She was surprised that he knew her name – she’d never spoken with him before.

“Oh, you can count on it,” Lily said in reply.  She’d been looking forward to trying out for Quidditch since the first day back.

The next week rolled by slowly, but finally it was Friday evening.  Lily grabbed her Nimbus Two Thousand and One from her dormitory, stuffed her Keeping gloves into her pocket and headed down to the pitch.

There were only a handful of people there when she arrived, and several of them were current team members.  None of them were in Lily’s year.

"Alright,” Malachi called out to the group after a few more people had trickled in.  “Those trying out for Chaser come stand to my left.  Those trying out for Keeper come stand to my right.”

They split up accordingly.  Six people were trying out for Keeper and eight hoped to become Chaser.

“Okay,” Malachi said once the groups were organized.  “We’re going to split in half.  Three prospective Keepers will use these goal hoops -" he motioned to the three rings behind him “- and the other three will use the ones at the other end.  Roger or Corwin will attempt to make five goals.  Whoever saves the most goals is new Keeper.  We’ll do a tie-breaker if necessary.  Easy enough, right?

"Then, once the new Keeper has been chosen, we’ll put the prospective Chasers up against him or her.  You will try to make five goals.  Whoever makes the most goals is new Chaser.  Got it?  Alright, let’s start.”

Lily stayed on the left side of the pitch with Malachi and a dark haired third year Lily recognized as Roger Davies.  She wasn’t sure who the other two people trying out were.  They must have been much older than her.

The first girl flew up to the goal hoops and managed to save only two of her five goals.  She returned to the ground looking tearful, though the boy who followed her looked confident.  He saved four out of his five goals.

Lily was next.  She mounted her broom and kicked off.  She loved flying the Nimbus Two Thousand and One.  It was as easy as walking, but a thousand times more exhilarating, and she felt very much in her element as she soared upwards towards the golden hoops.  She took her position in front of the center goal hoop and Roger launched the Quaffle at her immediately.  She caught it easily.  She caught the second throw just as well.  She had to dive to keep the third shot from going in, but she managed to do so.  The fourth and fifth shots were tricky, but she saved them both.  Roger smiled at her as she headed back to the ground and her stomach flipped with excitement at how well she’d done.

“Okay, the results are in,” Malachi said, after conferring with the Chaser that had tested the Keepers on the other side of the pitch.  “And our new Keeper is…Lily Carling-Lestrange!  She saved all five of her goals.”  There was a weak applause.  “I’m sorry to everyone who didn’t make it.  You’re free to go.”  Most of them went to sit in the stands, however.

The Chasers each took their turns, but in the end only one boy had managed to score more than one goal.

“So that makes Graham Worthington our newest Chaser,” Malachi announced once everyone was back on the ground.  “Well done to everyone who tried out today.  And again, I’m sorry to those who didn’t make it.”

Everyone headed back up to the castle except for the Quidditch team.

"We might as well introduce everyone,” Malachi said once the others had gone.  “I’m Malachi Covette,” he said, shaking Lily’s and Graham’s hands.  “Beater.”

"Rohan Sykes,” said a tough-looking boy with tan skin and messy hair.  “Beater.”  He shook Graham’s and Lily’s hands as well.

“Roger Davies, Chaser.”

“Corwin Chambers, Chaser.”

“Cho Chang, Seeker.”

Lily hardly needed the formal introductions; she already knew the names of everyone on the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team, having closely followed every match the year prior.  Yet once everyone had met, the team set out to get their new members settled into their lockers.  Malachi showed them where his office was, where the showers were, and where they were to store their brooms when they weren’t using them.

“And that’s pretty much it,” he said after showing them the old stone water fountain they used for drinking and washing their hands and faces.  “Our first practice will be Monday.  I’ll see you all then.”

“Malachi’s had his eye on you since last year, you know,” Roger said to Lily as they walked back up to the castle.

“Really?” Lily beamed.

“It’s true,” Rohan said.  “He was impressed with your flying.”

“What can I say?” said Malachi.  “I knew that anyone who could fly that well on a school broom must be good.  I would’ve recruited you last year, but it was our old Keeper’s seventh year and it would have been right difficult for you to save many goals on a dodgy old school broom when all your competitors would have been on Cleansweep Sixes, at least.”

“I could’ve done it,” Lily argued playfully, grateful that Malachi seemed unaware of her flying accident fluke.

Malachi laughed.  “I know you could have.  Anyway, glad to have you on the team.”  He smiled and patted her on the shoulder.

“I’m not too sure about that Graham fellow, though,” Roger said quietly, looking skeptical.  “I don’t really think he’s that good.  I’m not sure your Keeping skills were the reason he only got two goals…”

“Well, he did better than everyone else,” Malachi said.  “Fair is fair.”

“I suppose,” Roger mused.

The team continued to chatter happily as they walked up the stone steps to the Entrance Hall.  Lily practically floated back up to Ravenclaw Tower, she was so excited to share the good news.  She’d have to tell James first, as he said he’d be waiting for her in the common room.  Then Padma and Morag, if they were there.  She’d see Tabby at breakfast the next morning and – she wondered if Slytherin had had their try-outs yet?  And then she’d _have_ to tell Fred and George...and Lydia!  How could she forget her mum?  She’d send her an owl straight away.  She was fit to burst, practically skipping down the hallway when -

“Lily!” Corwin Chambers shouted after her.

She turned and realized that, in her excitement, she’d flown straight past the spiral staircase that led up to Ravenclaw Tower.  Blushing, she shuffled back to join her team and helped to answer the eagle knocker’s riddle before rushing into the common room to find James.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rohan Sykes is an OC, but I meant for him to be a descendant of Jocunda Sykes, the first person to ever make a trans-Atlantic broom flight. Looking back on this chapter, I imagine Quidditch trials – especially Ravenclaw Quidditch trials – might have been a bit more rigorous, or at least more creative. Harry conducts trials in a similar manner to what I have written here in Half-Blood Prince, but what are some other ways Quidditch captains may have tested prospective team members? Let me know with a comment!


	11. The Self-Stirring Stirrer

**2nd Year: December 1992**

A bell chimed loudly, echoing across the snowy grounds and drafty halls of Hogwarts, marking the end of the lunch hour.  Students exited the Great Hall in a large clump, rushing to be on time for their afternoon lessons.  Lily squeezed through the bottleneck at the entrance to the hall and made her way for the dungeons, merging with her housemates and Hufflepuffs on the staircase.

“Today’s the day, Lily,” James whispered, appearing at her side with a grin on his face.  “Terry and I are going to test our invention.”

Lily rolled her eyes.  “You haven’t _invented_ anything.  It was Gaspard Shingleton who invented the first self-stirring -”

“Well, this isn’t a cauldron, is it?” he interrupted, pulling something like a slender wooden spoon from his book bag.

“I suppose not,” Lily sighed as they arrived at the Potions classroom and James hastily stowed his “invention” in his bag.

Potions was Lily’s favourite class after Charms, but it certainly wasn’t her best.  Brewing under Professor Snape’s scrutinizing gaze made her nervous so that she sometimes mixed up her ingredients or skipped a line of instructions.  It didn’t help that during their very first lesson last year he’d forbidden her and James from ever working together – and for no reason at all!  James always partnered with Terry, who was brilliant at Potions – and all of his other lessons, really – though nothing put that maniacal glint in his eye or the furrow of concentration in his brow like Potions. 

So Lily worked with Morag, who was bright but shy, which ensured that the pair was never scolded by Snape for talking.  And it didn’t hurt that they had double potions with the Hufflepuffs who, admittedly, were diligent workers, but in Snape’s opinion (and Lily’s, too), were heavy-handed when adding ingredients, or else let their fires burn too strongly, or committed any other number of grave errors that the Potions Master never failed to announce to the class at large.

But the Ravenclaws received their share of reprimand as well.  During lessons, their house was roughly divided into two factions: those who were too afraid of supplying a wrong answer to speak up at all, and those who were so eager to prove their knowledge that they would often respond out of turn.  James, Terry, and Michael notoriously fell into the latter category.  Lily found this amusing during Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons, where the three boys often displayed defense knowledge superior to Professor Lockhart’s.  But during Potions, Lily saw their behaviour as imprudent – stupid, even.  James had landed himself three detentions with Snape during first year.  _Three_.  And if his little experiment did not go as planned, Lily predicted they’d be enduring a fourth Howler from Mrs. Mackenzie at breakfast the next morning.

Terry and James had spent all of their free evenings for the past two weeks designing, testing, and perfecting their self-stirring stirrer (as the pair had eloquently christened their creation).  Lily wanted nothing to do with it.  Second years weren’t allowed self-stirring cauldrons for a reason.  It was important that they learn the basic techniques of potion-making before taking shortcuts.  But some small part of her was jealous that James and Terry had been clever enough to perform such advanced charm work, and she was curious to see if their efforts would be fruitful.

Thus, Lily and Morag stationed themselves as close to James and Terry as they could without Snape separating them, while the Potions master explained that they would be brewing Swelling Solutions that afternoon.  Morag set to work counting puffer fish eyes while Lily ground dried frog toes in her mortar, watching Terry and James out of the corner of her eye all the while.

Half an hour later, Lily knew that she and Morag had done something wrong.  Their potion was much too thick, its consistency somewhere between tar and cold molasses.  Lily struggled to stir the potion seven times counter-clockwise as the next line of instructions dictated, but it was no use.  Her stirrer was stuck firmly in the sludgy concoction and wouldn’t budge.  Meanwhile, across the aisle, James and Terry were watching delightedly as their self-stirring stirrer twirled slowly and smoothly around their cauldron, stopping precisely after the seventh turn.  Lily fumed as Morag hastily added a few drops of vinegar to their potion in an attempt to thin it before Professor Snape arrived at their table.

Too late.  Their Swelling Solution began to hiss and froth, turning an angry, acidic green just as Professor Snape focused his attention on their cauldron.

Wrinkling his nose at the foul stench that was now emanating from their potion, Professor Snape dropped a small green leaf into the cauldron, causing its contents to cease bubbling and smoking before finally congealing into a hard, gray blob.

“Perhaps next time you will remember to add liver of horned toad,” Snape sneered.  “Five points from Ravenclaw for neglecting to follow instructions.”

Lily was mortified.  She had never had a potion go so horribly awry, and she had _never_ cost Ravenclaw house points until now.  She did her best to suppress the hot tears that were welling in the corners of her eyes, but the lump rising in her throat was painful and persistent.  To make matters worse, James and Terry’s potion was nearly finished and it looked pristine.  Professor Snape had made no comment as he passed their desk, which was largely considered the highest praise one could receive during his lessons.  And if he had noticed the boys’ use of the forbidden stirrer, he made no mention of it.  Lily’s embarrassment and disappointment quickly morphed into angry jealousy.  She made plans to whack James upside the head with her potions book as soon as the lesson was through.

Morag had already begun cleaning the failed potion from the cauldron, so Lily set to work putting away unused ingredients.  She was in the store cupboard when a resounding _splash_ echoed throughout the room, as if a small waterfall had suddenly sprouted in the middle of the dungeon.  

Lily turned and spotted the source of the noise at once.  The bottom of Terry and James’ cauldron seemed to have vanished, their near-perfect Swelling Solution spreading across the stone floor, causing everything it touched to inflate like a balloon.  James and Terry were not immune to the strength of their potion, and they hobbled to the front of the room on engorged feet to get a swig of Deflating Draught from Professor Snape, who did not hesitate to give them both detentions and take ten points from Ravenclaw for the use of a forbidden brewing aid.  Lily sniggered.  When his feet had returned to their normal size, James looked to Lily, who gave him a look that she hoped he would read as _I told you so_.

Once they were side-by-side in the corridor, Lily said to James, “ _that_ went well,” inwardly satisfied that his potion had failed, too.

James shrugged.  “At least we tried.  I think I know what went wrong, as well.  We -”

“You’re impossible,” Lily cut across him.  “You don’t even _care_ that you’ve got another detention.  That makes four, you know.  _Four_.  I bet there are seventh years who haven’t had _four_ detentions.  There are _rules._   You’ve got to be serious about your studies!  You’re not thinking about your future -”

It was James’ turn to interrupt.

“But Lily, Terry and I _learned_ something.  We learned loads, actually, working this thing out.  Isn’t that what matters?”

Lily pursed her lips and said nothing.  He was right.  Of course he was right, because he was _always_ right.  But wasn’t his wit one of the reasons she was friends with him in the first place?  Yes, it was, and even if he was insufferable in the classroom, he was still her best mate.  Her creative, too-clever-for-his-own-good, best mate.

“Defense Against the Dark Arts next,” Lily said, changing the subject.  “Have you finished your summary of _Gadding with Ghouls_?”

“No,” James answered, suppressing a grin.

Lily hit him with her potions book, but she was smiling too.


	12. Ravenclaw Pride

**3rd Year: September 1993**

“You wouldn’t believe all the Arthimancy we’ve got already,” Lily complained to Tabby.  It was the first weekend of the new term and with Sirius Black on the loose, Dementors were stationed all around the perimeter of the Hogwarts grounds.  So instead of leaving the castle to enjoy the fleeting September sunshine like usual, the girls contented themselves with wandering the corridors, soaking up what sun they could through the tall glass windows.

"Arithmancy?”  Tabby wrinkled her nose.  “Try taking Divination.  Trelawney’s an absolute nutter.  But at least you don’t have to pay much attention.  Orb gazing my -"

“Tabby!”

Tabby rolled her eyes.  “It’s no wonder you didn’t make it in Slytherin if you’re going to be so uptight about me saying _arse_ ,” she huffed, placing particular emphasis on the swear.

Lily bit her lip.  She knew Tabby was only joking, but her jab about not making Slytherin stung.  She couldn’t help but remember what Mr. Malfoy had said to her last summer – that no one could spare a thought for those who came in second – and Lily wanted little more than to be first, to be the _best_.  It was something she’d been dwelling on during the holiday – obsessing over, really.  Had the Sorting Hat put her in the wrong house?  It was considering Slytherin but then she’d told it to hurry up...had her haste caused the Hat to make the wrong choice? 

Lily had a tendency to fall prey to petty personal crises and let them worry her more than they should.  But still, why would Tabby say something like that?  Lily wanted so badly to be liked by the Slytherins.  She didn’t understand why people like Draco would only acknowledge her when he wasn’t surrounded by his housemates (which was a rare occurrence to begin with), or why more and more, Tabby chose to spend her time with Pansy and Daphne, hardly sparing Lily a second glance when she was with them.  She liked her own house well enough, but she couldn’t help thinking she was lacking for something – a true thirst to prove herself, perhaps – that had prevented her from being placed in Tabby’s house.  She felt inadequate, like she wasn’t good enough, and she couldn’t shake the thought from her mind. 

Suddenly feeling very overwhelmed, Lily made a hasty excuse about having to work on her Arithmancy, hot tears welling in the corner of her eyes as she turned and hurried down the corridor, leaving a perplexed Tabby in her wake.

By the time Lily made it back to West Tower, she was in such a state that she struggled to come up with an answer to the eagle’s question, and this only served to make her feel worse.  Surely a _real_ Ravenclaw would have been able to work out a response.  Fortunately, a sixth year joined her on the staircase before long and came up with an answer for the both of them, though he eyed Lily uncomfortably as she tried to suppress her sobs.

Once inside, Lily made a beeline for the girls’ dormitory, keeping her eyes fixed on the star-spattered plush carpet beneath her.  Before she’d gone ten steps, someone grabbed her by the elbow and dragged her up to the third year boys’ room.

“What happened?” James asked concernedly once they were alone (Michael Corner having just slipped out of the room, eyeing them suspiciously as he went).

Lily huffed for a moment before calming herself down enough to explain what had just happened with Tabby and all her anxiety surrounding her Sorting crisis.  Lily could see James suppressing a grin, and she was grateful for the effort.

“I just...I want them to like me,” Lily conceded.  “I don’t know why they don’t.  Tabby barely talks to me when she’s with Pansy and Daphne, and Draco -”

"Why are you so worried about what a bunch of Slytherins think?" James asked with genuine curiosity.  "The Slytherins can be so -"

"Not all Slytherins are _evil_ , James, if that's what you were going to say," Lily snapped.  "Half my family was in Slytherin, don't forget, including my dad, and he's not -"

"That's not what I was going to say," James went on calmly.  "I was going to say closed-minded.  You can’t deny that a lot of them are bigots."

No, Lily couldn't deny that.  "But not all of them," she went on defensively.  "And they've got plenty of good qualities, too.  Ambition, for one -"

"And no one is saying you can't be ambitious just because you're not in Slytherin!  Lily, you of all people are _not_ lacking for ambition.  You already know that you want to be a Healer, and I see the way you work during classes so you can get yourself there.  But you're a _Ravenclaw_.  The Sorting Hat put you here for a reason.  Don't you believe that 'Wit beyond measure -'"

"'- is man's greatest treasure.'  I guess."

“I think everyone has a bit of each house in them,” James concluded sagely.  “Except maybe You-Know-Who, but who would want to emulate him?  Your house doesn’t define who you are, Lily.”

James was brilliant, there was no denying it.  _He’d_ obviously been placed in the right house.

"Come on,” James said.  “I know what’ll make you feel better.”

He led her down the steps from the dormitories, out of the common room, and up the seventh floor corridor.  He stopped in front of Professor Flitwick’s office and rapped politely on the door.

A moment later, the door swung open.  “Ah, James!” Professor Flitwick squeaked happily upon seeing his student.  “And Lily – oh dear, what’s the matter?”

Lily’s face was still red and tear-stained from her crying fit, and Professor Flitwick wasted no time in ushering them both into his office and offering them seats in the soft chairs in front of his desk.

“Now, what seems to be the trouble?” Flitwick asked kindly, giving Lily his full attention.

She took a deep breath and told her Head of House everything she’d already told James.  The Charms professor listened intently all the while, and when she was finished, he consoled her with much of the same wisdom James had already imparted in his dormitory.  Further, Professor Flitwick revealed that he had nearly been a Hatstall during his own Sorting, the Sorting Hat having seriously considered placing him in Gryffindor.  Then, he pulled a tin of miniature cupcakes from a drawer and had them do a little jig across his desk before offering some to Lily and James.  Lily smiled and Professor Flitwick gave her a wink.

“We’re Ravenclaws!” Professor Flitwick beamed.  “We’re learners, inventors, innovators, _individuals_!  Be proud, Lily.”

And she was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you think students often have mid-career crises about whether or not they were placed in the right house? I imagine it’s fairly common. After all, you take these kids when they’re eleven years old, split them up by personality trait, and then expect them to live up to the qualities of their house. It’s a lot of pressure, especially at such a formative age. What do you think? Let me know with a comment!


	13. Hogsmeade

**3 rd Year: 31 October 1993**

Lily had awoken early that morning, eager to make her first trip to Hogsmeade.  She gabbed all the way to the village, verbally mapping out her day with James. 

“Let’s do Dervish and Banges first,” she said, “and then the post office.  That’ll get our errands out of the way.  Honeydukes next, I think.  Would you mind terribly going to Gladrags?  Then perhaps a butterbeer at one of the pubs?”

She didn’t wait for James to answer, wrapping her blue-and-bronze scarf more snuggly around her cheeks, blocking the crisp autumn wind.

The sky was heavy with thick clouds when the students arrived in the quaint village.  The older students who knew Hogsmeade well quickly took off down High Street, vanishing into their favourite shops, while the third years took a bit longer to find their bearings. 

“Ah, I think Dervish and Banges is this way -”

"James!” Anthony Goldstein shouted, waving his arm.  “James, come to Zonko’s with us!”

James turned a pleading gaze on Lily.

“Go on,” she said.  “I’m going to finish my errands and then find Tabby.  Maybe we’ll see you at Honeydukes?”

James agreed and hurried off up the road with Anthony, Michael and Terry.

Once Lily had taken care of her business, she set out to find Tabby.  The post office wasn’t far from the Three Broomsticks, which was meant to be a popular gathering place for students, so Lily decided she’d start there.

The pub was crowded, noisy and warm when she entered.  She loosened her scarf and scanned the bar for Tabby’s dark hair with little success.  Lily was turning to leave when a chorus of shrieking giggles emanating from a table in the corner caught her ear.

As she had feared, Tabby sat with a group of pretty Slytherin girls who all seemed to be in stitches over something Pansy Parkinson had just said.  It was Pansy who spotted Lily first.

“Feeling better, Carling?” Pansy inquired, though her tone suggested that she was not remotely concerned with Lily’s well-being.  “They haven’t chucked you out of Ravenclaw now that your brains have been smashed in?  I was sure you’d be wearing a black-and-yellow tie when they let you out of the hospital wing.”

Pansy’s gang erupted into laughter once more, though Lily was grateful to see that Tabby had the good grace not to join in.  Two weeks before, Lily had taken a Bludger to the skull during Quidditch practice.  She’d been unconscious for four days, but Madame Pomfrey healed the bones and the bruising and made sure her memory was intact.  Now she felt as good as new.

Ignoring Pansy’s remark, Lily turned to Tabby.

“I was wondering – when you’re done here, do you want to come to Honeydukes with me?  James was going to, but he’s gone off to Zonko’s -”

“That’s how this works now, isn’t it?” Tabby cut across with unexpected malice.

“What do you mean?” Lily asked, genuinely perplexed.

“You only talk to me when James is too busy for you.”

Lily laughed coldly.  “That’s ridiculous.  I spend _loads_ of time with you.  _You_ only talk to _me_ when _she’s_ -” Lily indicated Pansy “- not around.  Or when you need help with your homework.”

“Oh, is that how you see it?” Tabby countered. 

“Yeah,” Lily answered, nodding.  “Yeah, you know what, I do see it that way.  You’ve changed, Tabby.  You promised we’d stay friends even if we got Sorted into separate houses.  You haven’t even _tried_ to keep your word.”

“Because you’re always with James!”

“And you’re always with pug-nosed Parkinson!”

Before she knew what was happening, Pansy was out of her chair and had a fistful of Lily’s hair in her hand which she used to yank her head backwards.  Lily shrieked and swatted while the other Slytherin girls laughed – even Tabby.  Lily found herself crying before she could stop it, more out of humiliation and hurt at her lost friend than physical pain.  Pansy continued to pull, but Lily finally managed to shake her off, whacking her in the face with a flailing arm in the process.  Affronted, Pansy let out a shriek and gave Lily a strong shove, sending her crashing straight to her bum on the floor.

A hand appeared offering to help Lily up, and she took it gladly, wiping her face on her sleeve as she was ushered away from the scene by Lee Jordan.

Fred Weasley stood before the now-silent Slytherin girls, demanding what they’d done that for, while George met Lee and Lily and asked sincerely, “Shall I hex them for you?”

Lily shook her head and sniffled as the Gryffindor boys escorted her from the pub.

“What was that all about?” Fred asked once they were back on the windy High Street.

“I called Pansy Parkinson pug-nosed,” Lily confessed.

Lee, George and Fred voiced their approval.

“But Tabby,” Lily went on, “she said these awful things and I said some awful things, too, and now I don’t know...I don’t think -”

If Tabby and Lily’s friendship had been shifting since they began at Hogwarts, their exchange in the Three Broomsticks had been the final earthquake.  Lily hadn’t been able to accept it before, but she could see now that they were on separate paths with different destinations.  Tabby had new friends now, friends with whom she had more in common.  And, slowly, Lily was beginning to realize that the same was true of her.

“If Honeydukes can’t cheer you up, you’re hopeless,” Lee said, holding the door open as Lily followed George and Fred inside the crowded shop.

James was inside with Anthony, Terry and Michael.  The moment he spotted her, James called, “Lily, come have a look at these!  Cockroach Clusters!”

James’ delight at discovering these disgusting candies was evident on his face, and Lily couldn’t help but smile, too.  Even though it was difficult to admit that things would never be the same with Tabby, someone she had once been so close to, Lily was happy to know that she had still had the Weasleys, and James.


	14. The Quidditch World Cup

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of the text in this chapter comes directly from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I do not claim to have written it.

**4th Year**

“This way, you two!” Mrs. Mackenzie whispered back to James and Lily.  Mrs. Mackenzie was holding four-year-old Erin’s hand and leading James and Lily through the night fog that had settled around the banks of the Shannon River.

James and Lily were silent but teeming with excitement.  They were headed for the Portkey that would transport them to the Quidditch World Cup!

“Yes, here it is,” Mrs. Mackenzie said, pointing to an old, rusted tomato tin.  “Everyone put a finger on!  That’s it.  Make sure to keep it there, I’m not coming back for anyone.”

James and Lily sniggered, but followed the directions.

“Any second now,” Mrs. Mackenzie said.

Lily held her finger on the can and felt the familiar odd jerk behind her belly button.  Suddenly, she was whirring forward.  She could feel James next to her, but everything else had become a blur of speed and colour.  Soon enough, though, Lily felt solid ground beneath her feet, but she couldn’t manage to stabilize herself and fell over as the world came back into focus.

James and Erin were on the ground too, but Mrs. Mackenzie had managed to stay up-right.  James helped Lily up and she looked around.  They’d landed in a deserted moor, and when Lily looked up she saw two wizards dressed in Muggle clothing.

“10:15, from Clare,” said one wizard scribbling on a large piece of parchment.  Mrs. Mackenzie handed the other wizard the tomato tin, which he threw into a box that contained, what Lily assumed, where other used Portkeys.

“You’re in field three,” the first wizard said, consulting his parchment, “and your campsite manager is Mr. Delaney.”

The second wizard waved his hand towards the left side of a wood.  “Over there.”

Lily could see the dark shapes of tents scattered across the countryside in front of the wood. After a five minute walk they stopped at a cottage where an old man was stationed.

“Mr. Delaney?” asked Mrs. Mackenzie.

“The very same,” Mr. Delaney said.

“We’re the Mackenzies.  We’ve booked a tent for two nights?”

“Ah, yep!” Mr. Delaney said, consulting a list on the cottage door.  “Yer over there, up the slope a bit.”

“Right, thank you,” Mrs. Mackenzie said, handing Mr. Delaney exact change and receiving a camp map in return.  “Onward!”

The children followed Mrs. Mackenzie along rows of tents that had obviously been undecorated to resemble Muggle tents.  Lily had never actually _seen_ a Muggle tent before and didn’t think twice when she noticed some had chimneys and weather vanes poking through the canvas.

As they walked on, though, everything suddenly became very green.  All the tents in this area had shamrocks sprouting out of them.

“Look Mammy!” Erin said eagerly, pointing to the tents.  “Oh, can we decorate our tent too, Mammy, please?!”

Mrs. Mackenzie looked skeptical.  “I don’t know...we’re not supposed to use magic...”

“Everyone else has, Mammy, look!” Erin pleaded.

“Please?” James and Lily said together, mocking Erin.

“Oh, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt if everyone else has already done...”

At last they reached their campsite.  A little wooden sign sticking out of the ground read “Mackenzie”.

“Alright, well,” Mrs. Mackenzie said in an exhausted tone, “since we’re going to be decorating them by magic anyway...I guess it wouldn’t hurt...”

She winked at Lily, took her wand out of her pocket, and gave it a wave.  A tent shot out of the rucksack she’d been carrying, assembled itself in midair, and landed neatly in the middle of their campsite.  With one more wave the tent was covered in little green shamrocks.  All the kids smiled.

“Inside then!  Tomorrow is going to be an exciting day.”

They scrambled into the tent.  It had four rooms; a bedroom containing two sets of bunk beds, a kitchen with an oven, sink and table, a living room with a couch, coffee table and fire place, and a small bathroom.

Lily was very tired from all the walking they’d done and immediately climbed the ladder of one bunk and laid down.  James got into the bunk below her a few minutes later.  Lily’s mind began to drift...tomorrow she would be watching the Quidditch World Cup...with box seats!

Lily and James had a lie-in the next morning and when they woke Mrs. Mackenzie and Erin were sitting at the kitchen table eating sandwiches.

“There’re two sandwiches left on the griddle,” Mrs. Mackenzie said, nodding towards the stove.

“Thanks Mam,” James said, putting the sandwiches onto a plate for Lily and himself.

After they ate and cleaned up, Lily and James walked around a bit.  They stopped and talked with friends from school and had short conversations with friends of their parents.

“James?  Last time I saw you you were only this tall!” or “Lily?  Is your mother well?” and so on.

Just as they were escaping Mr. Bode, one of Mr. Mackenzie’s co-workers in the Department of Mysteries, they noticed that it was getting dark and salesmen were now apparating here and there carrying large trays of souvenirs.  Lily and James both bought a pair of Omnioculars and programs.  Lily also bought a green rosette and James purchased one for Erin, too.

Just as they were reentering their campsite, they heard a giant gong sound in the distance, and instantly green and red torches burst into flame, illuminating the path to the stadium.

“It’s time!” Erin squealed.  “It’s time!”

Mrs. Mackenzie was leading the group, Erin clutching her hand.  They entered the wood and followed the torches.  After about twenty minutes of walking they exited the wood and stepped into the shadow of the large, golden-walled stadium.

“Wow!”

“Amazing!”

“Look Mammy!” all the kids chimed in turn.

They quickly hurried off to the nearest entrance.

“Oh, nice seats!” said the witch at the gate, checking their tickets.  “Up the stairs, second door from the top.  Enjoy the match!”

They followed the rich purple carpeted stairs to their box.  Lily, James, and Erin hung over the edge of the box to see the velvety green field below, thousands of fans filling the stadium, an odd golden glow that seemed to radiate from the stadium itself, and a giant blackboard that flashed advertisements in golden script.

“This is so wicked!” James said childishly, still leaning over the box’s edge.

Lily sat back in her purple seat and flipped through her velvet, tasseled program.  The box filled slowly, and soon the booming voice of the commentator rang through the stadium.

“Ladies and gentlemen...welcome!  Welcome to the final of the four-hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!”

Everyone cheered, and the giant blackboard now read: BULGARIA: 0  IRELAND: 0.

“And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce...the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!”

Veela started pouring out onto the pitch.  At least, Lily assumed they were.  She’d never actually seen one.  Her hunch was confirmed, however, when Mrs. Mackenzie whispered to Erin that they were, indeed, veela.

Half of the stadium leaned forward as they started to dance.  Lily noticed that all the fans that had just leaned in were male, and she looked around the box to see that three boys in the row behind her looked ready to jump into the crowd.  The veela left the pitch and the crowd booed.

“And now,” came the announcer’s voice again, “kindly put your wands in the air...for the Irish National Team Mascot!”

What appeared to be a greenish gold comet came whirring into the stadium, it changed formation, made a rainbow, formed a shamrock, and then rained down golden coins.  Erin scrambled about to pick up the gold, but Lily and James stayed put.  They knew the comet had consisted of leprechauns carrying lanterns, and they knew that leprechaun gold disappeared eventually.

As the announcer introduced the teams and the referee stepped onto the field, Lily and James focused their Omnioculars.  It was Quidditch like Lily had never seen.  The players were amazingly skilled, and so _fast_.

Before long, Ireland had scored.  Three times.  The left side of the stadium went wild.

Bulgaria scored and the veela danced again.  Then play resumed.

“Look Mam!” squealed Erin, pointing towards the field.

Lily looked too.  Speeding towards the ground were Krum and Lynch, the opposing Seekers.  Lily focused her Omnioculars on their target, but she couldn’t see the Snitch.

“No!” she said to no one in particular, “Pull off it, Lynch!  Krum is feinting!  Argh!”

The stadium moaned as Krum streaked back into the air and Aidan Lynch crashed into the ground with a thud.  Medi-wizards rushed out onto the pitch to aid Lynch.

Once Lynch was back in the air, Ireland began playing more furiously.  Soon they were up by ten more goals, leading one hundred and thirty to ten.  Ireland received three penalties, causing the leprechauns to dance in the air and make rude gestures at the veela.  This quite angered the veela and they started throwing fire at the leprechauns.  Lily stared wide-eyed as the creatures clashed, and the once beautiful veela began growing ugly birds’ heads and large, scaly wings.

Despite the confusion below, the game carried on.  Ireland scored, Krum was hit in the face with a Bludger, and...Lynch was diving for the Snitch!  Krum noticed, though, and caught up with him.  It looked as though they were going to crash again, and Lynch did, right into the angry veela.  Krum rose into the air, holding the Snitch high.

“That’s it, Mammy!  Bulgaria’s won!” Erin cried sadly.

“No they haven’t!” said James, pointing at the scoreboard.  “Look!”

He was right.  The scoreboard was now flashing BULGARIA: 160, IRELAND: 170.  After a moment of contemplation and realization the Ireland supporters burst into deafening applause.

“IRELAND WINS!” shouted the announcer.  Lily was hugging everyone she could reach, as were the other people in the box.

“We won!  I can’t believe it!” James said for the hundredth time as they headed back towards their tent.  Lily ignored him and kept walking.

James and Lily stayed up for a long time discussing the match.  They’d started to doze off on the couch when James was awakened by screaming and laughter.

“Lily!” he said, shaking her lightly, “Lily, wake up!”

Lily merely rolled over.

“Lily!  LILY!”  James grew impatient and socked her in the shoulder.

“Wah!?” Lily said thickly, sitting up and rubbing her arm.

“Something’s going on outside.  Wait here...” James went into the bedroom and woke his mother and sister.

“Come, this way...” Mrs. Mackenzie said, pulling out her wand and heading out the tent flap.

It was an awful scene.  In the distance four people were levitated twelve feet above the ground and screaming.  Hooded figures under them were cackling and crumpling tents as they walked by.  Wizards and witches were scrambling for the woods, screaming and scooping up their children.

“James,” Mrs. Mackenzie said severely, “I’m going to help stop them.  Take Erin and Lily into the woods and _stay there._   I’ll come fetch you when it’s safe.”

“But Mammy!” Erin pleaded, on the verge of tears.

“GO!”

Erin looked shocked.  James quickly hoisted her onto his back and started running towards the woods, Lily following.

After they’d lost all sign of anyone the three sat down in a small clearing and put out their wands.  Erin was frightened by the dark, though, so they lit them back up again.

“Now what?” Lily asked James.

“We wait, I guess,” he said, twirling his wand agitatedly.

Erin flung her arms around his neck and kept very close to him, crying into his shirt.  Suddenly, the clearing was illuminated with a strange green light.  Lily looked up.

“James!  It’s the...no...it can’t be...is it?” she stammered, knowing that it was.

”The Dark Mark...” James said solemnly.  “We’ve got to move.”

James picked up Erin and they headed out of the clearing back towards the tent.  They reached their campsite safely, and although the hooded figures were gone most people seemed to still be awake and nervous.  The green skull with a serpent protruding from its mouth, the Dark Mark, was still hanging ominously in the sky.

The three went into the tent and sat on the couch.  James was comforting Erin, who was crying hysterically into his lap, and Lily’s face was screwed up with concentration.  The only sounds were those of the voices outside, and Erin’s sobbing.

Mrs. Mackenzie came back half an hour later with a small cut across her cheek.  Erin had fallen asleep in James’ lap, but Lily and James were staring gravely at Mrs. Mackenzie.

She stared back and sighed, “Well, I suppose you’ve got all sorts of questions.  Go on then.”

“No, Mam,” James said in a toneless voice, “we understand.”

“Yeah,” Lily nodded.  “We read.”

At this Mrs. Mackenzie gave a half smile.  “Of course you do,” she said with a hollow chuckle.  “Ravenclaws...”  Mrs. Mackenzie had been in Gryffindor, but Mr. Mackenzie had been a Ravenclaw.

Mrs. Mackenzie made tea, and Lily, feeling quite sleepy after her cup, fell asleep on James' shoulder.  Lily woke the next morning to an odd picture.

It was still early - the sun was barely up - but Mrs. Mackenzie was packing everything away.  James had his head on the arm of the couch, and was seemingly suffocating Erin by lying on her head.  Erin’s tiny legs could be seen dangling off the edge of the sofa, and Lily only realized then that she was upside down, sitting on James legs with her own legs dangling off the back end of the couch.

Lily flipped over and woke James up.  James in turn woke Erin up and they exited the tent.  Mrs. Mackenzie magicked the tent back into her rucksack, and they silently headed towards the queue for portkeys home.


	15. The Yule Ball

**4th Year: December 1994**

“Yes, just put them back in the box there.  Thank you Lisa, Padma, Terry, Lily...”

It was the end of Charms nearly two weeks after the first task, and Professor Flitwick was instructing the students to return the various objects that they had been Banishing into a large wooden box at the front of the classroom.

“That was most excellent!” Professor Flitwick praised from atop his usual book stack.  “I knew we could start Banishing Charms early!  _So good_ , the lot of you.”

Professor Flitwick beamed at his Ravenclaws and they stared back at him expectantly.

“Ah, yes, I have an announcement!  The Yule Ball!  It is a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an excellent chance for us to get to know our foreign guests a little better!  The ball is open to all students fourth year and above, but younger guests may attend if invited by an older student.  The Yule Ball will be held on Christmas Day at 8 o’clock in the Great Hall, and will continue until midnight.  You will all get to wear dress robes and have a fantastic opportunity to socialize with your classmates and our guests!”

Flitwick finished his short announcement, and the class let out a gasp, partly out of excitement and partly because Professor Flitwick, who had been speaking very fast, excitedly and in an extra-squeaky tone, had been in great danger of toppling off his book stack.

The bell rang, and the Ravenclaw fourth years left class, an excited buzz humming around them as they exited.

*******

A few days later, Lily, Morag and Padma were in the library hunched over numerous massive tomes that sat open on the table.  They’d been reviewing antidotes for their Potions exam the following week for the better part of the afternoon and it was clear that they were beginning to lose steam.  Morag stared intently at a page of notes on bezoars but her eyes were glazed and unmoving.  Padma’s attention had turned to a table of Beauxbatons boys sitting across the aisle from them; she chewed the end of her quill dreamily as she gazed in their direction, but they paid her no mind.

“Focus, you two!” Lily encouraged, snapping her fingers.  “What if Snape really _does_ try to poison us to test the efficacy of our antidote?  Do you want to _die_ because you were too busy thinking about boys, Padma?”

“Oh, come off it, Lily,” Padma grinned.  “It’s time for a break.”

Padma turned again to look at the Beauxbatons boys who were packing up their things.  Lily had been thrilled when Dumbledore announced the return of the Triwizard Tournament at the beginning of term and she had been particularly eager to meet the Beauxbatons students, having learned a bit of French from her grandfather.  When they arrived, however, they all seemed so much older, so much more mature and sophisticated than she was, that she’d been too shy to interact with any of them except through formally polite exchanges at the Ravenclaw table during mealtimes.  But with the Yule Ball fast approaching, Lily often found herself day-dreaming about being pulled aside in a corridor by a charming Beauxbatons boy who would confess that he’d been pining for her from afar and wanted nothing more than to accompany her to the dance.

“Do you think they’ve got dates already?” Padma mused as she watched the Beauxbatons boys turn and vanish beyond a bookcase.

Lily closed her Potions book, realizing that they weren’t going to get anything else done now that Padma had switched to her favourite subject.

“Probably,” Lily answered honestly.  “Why, thinking of asking Jean-Marc -”

But her jibe was cut short by the appearance of Madam Pince, who hastily expelled the girls from the library for being too noisy.

“Who do you want to go with, Lily?” Padma asked once they reached the threshold of the library.

Lily thought of the Beauxbatons boys and shrugged.  “We’ll see who asks me,” she smirked, inwardly addressing the fact that she’d probably just end up going with James.  “Or maybe _I’ll_ ask Cedric Dig-”

Suddenly, Lily crashed into something furry with such force that she was knocked backwards onto the hard stone, the contents of her book bag scattering around her.  She looked up and was mortified when she realized that the “something furry” had been the robes of a towering, handsome Durmstrang student.  He offered Lily his hand and she froze, mouth hanging open as Padma and Morag hastened to collect the books, papers and quills that had spilled from her bag.  He made an agitated motion with his hand, encouraging her to take it.  She did and she was surprised by its warmth as he helped her to her feet.

“You must vatch vhere you are going,” he admonished, not unkindly.

Lily nodded, dumbfounded, as he strode away down the corridor.

*******

“So,” Lily said, bouncing on James’ bed a week later, “are we going to the ball?”

“Together?  Yeah,” James answered without looking up from his Arithmancy homework.

Lily had finished her own work and continued bouncing cheerfully on James’ bed while he finished his.  James’ roommates had left, as they so often did when Lily came up to their room.  She got on well with the other three boys - Anthony Goldstein, Terry Boot, and Michael Corner – but they, like so many others, seemed to think that James and Lily were suddenly something more than just friends and thus tended to leave them alone.  Lily found the sudden presumptuousness of her classmates irritating, but she concluded that they just couldn’t _understand_ her friendship with James and tried not to let it bother her too much. 

*******

“Lily, you look lovely!” said Indigo Tinnil on the night of the Ball, as they met on the stairs from the girls' dormitories to the common room.  Indigo was a year below Lily, though her sister Tavi, a Hufflepuff, was a fourth year too.  Lily and James had sat beside her by chance at the Welcoming Feast that September, where they discovered that Indigo loved Divination like James and the Weird Sisters like Lily.  The three found themselves spending quite a lot of time together from then on.  Lily and Indigo had nearly died when they learned that the Weird Sisters would be playing at the Yule Ball. 

Indigo’s dress robes were a plum color which Lily thought looked rather stunning with her long, dark auburn hair.  Lily wore pale turquoise crushed velvet robes that her mother had made especially for the event.  The neck was square and trimmed in silver; the sleeves were long and flared largely at the ends.  The bottom part of her robes contained numerous folds that Lily had to pick up when she walked.  Her short hair, which she usually wore spiky and messy around her head, had been smoothed, shined and secured with a jeweled hair grip.

The girls met a very vibrant sea of colours when they arrived in the common room.  Perhaps it was just the change from uniform black, but everyone’s faces looked brighter too.

“You look like the Grey Lady!” James said as Lily and Indigo approached.

“She does not, James,” Indigo scolded.

“That’s not a _bad_ thing,” he argued.  “Lily, you look very nice.”

“So do you,” Lily complimented awkwardly, though it was true.  James’ simple, sleek black dress robes suited him well. 

When they reached the Entrance Hall, they were met with another blast of colour.  Students were milling around waiting for the doors to the Great Hall to open.  Lily and James leaned against the right hand banister of the marble staircase while Indigo left to find her date, a Beauxbatons boy called Luc.

Lily heard a door open below her and looked down to see Malfoy, in robes of black velvet, with Pansy Parkinson, in frilly pink robes, clutching his arm.  Lily thought Malfoy looked quite handsome.  She thought Pansy, on the other hand, looked like a garish fairy cake.

Soon, the doors to the Great Hall were opened, and James and Lily followed the flow of people into the hall which had been richly decorated for Christmas.  Each of the hundred or so smaller tables that had replaced the four, large, house tables were covered in frost, and garlands crisscrossed on the star-speckled ceiling.  Lily and James sat at a table against the far wall with Indigo and Luc, and two schoolmates of Luc’s, Michel and Bijou.  Lily was trying to work up the courage to attempt some of her French phrases on the Beauxbatons students, but before she could say “comment-allez vous?”, the Durmstrang student she had collided with two weeks prior approached their table with a pretty Durmstrang girl on his arm. 

“Ve may sit?” he asked the table at large, offering his date a chair before anyone at the table had given their consent.

Lily felt her face flush as he sat down beside her and she glanced at him furtively, admiring his sunken cheeks and dark ponytail.  Certainly he didn’t remember her.  Well, that was probably for the best.

But in that instant, he caught Lily looking at him and was quick to study her with dark eyes.  It took a moment, but recognition spread across his bold features and he said, “Ah, you are the clumsy girl, yes?”

Lily blushed furiously, laughed uncomfortably, and muttered “yes”.

“I am Nikolai Korsakov,” he presented. 

“Lily,” she responded, forcing herself to act calm.

Nikolai offered a hint of a smile.  Lily fidgeted nervously.

“Are you alright?” Nikolai asked, his thick brow furrowing.

In reality, Lily was just terribly intimidated by him.  He was at least three years older than her, after all, and Lily didn’t feel in control like she did around boys her own age.  And he could hardly be considered a boy...

“Oh, well, no.  I mean, yes - I’m-”

Mercifully, it was then that the Champions entered the Great Hall and Lily hastily applauded with the rest, turning her attention away from the awkward exchange with Nikolai.  Once Harry, Cedric, Fleur, Krum and their partners had entered and sat down at the head table, Lily looked down at her empty gold plate and picked up the menu that was lying on it.  She looked it over for a moment and, not sure what to do, said, “Erm...roast beef?”  A thick slab of meat appeared on her plate, complete with gravy, Yorkshire pudding, and a fancy garnish in the shape of a snowflake.

“Huh,” Lily said in a satisfied way as the food appeared on her plate.  “What’d you get, James?”

“Corned beef,” he responded.  “Want a taste?”

“Alright,” Lily said, taking the forkful of meat James had cut for her.  It was quite good, as was her roast beef, and soon everyone had all but licked their plates clean.

Dumbledore stood, inviting the students to do the same, and with a flick of his wand the small tables had been moved against the back wall, leaving the floor clear for dancing.  Lily and Indigo linked arms and squealed uncharacteristically as the Weird Sisters took the stage.  They clutched each other tightly to keep themselves from trampling the Champions in their zeal to be close to the band.

The Champions stepped onto the floor first and Lily watched with as much patience as she could muster as Harry Potter and Padma’s twin sister, Parvati, danced to the Weird Sisters’ slow melody.  She watched the handsome Cedric Diggory spinning around with Cho Chang.  She nearly laughed out loud when her Quidditch captain, Roger Davies, took the floor, gazing round-eyed at his partner, Fleur Delacour.  And in that moment, she realized that Viktor Krum was clutching the waist of _Hermione Granger_ , who was glowing in robes of floaty periwinkle fabric.  Lily found herself smiling furtively at Nikolai who returned the gesture.  Soon, other students had joined in dancing and the Champions were no longer the center of attention.

“Let’s _go_!” Lily urged James, holding out her hand and dragging him as close as she could get to the Weird Sisters, Indigo and Luc at their heels.

As Lily and James were dancing to the same mournful tune, they spun by Roger and Fleur.  Lily smirked to see Roger, who was usually so cool and collected, looking positively stupefied by Fleur’s radiance.  He stared at her longingly, mouth half agape, as Fleur prattled on about Beauxbatons with a throaty French accent. 

“It is very beautiful,” she informed a transfixed Roger.  “Ze whezzer is always pleasant.  Nozing like here.  Ze cold is ‘orrible.”

“Stand still, James, I’m eavesdropping,”  James rolled his eyes but complied.  Lily strained her neck over James’ shoulder to hear better.

“I do not know ‘ow you stand it!” Fleur continued to Roger.

“Cloaks, mostly,” Roger answered thickly.  Fleur did not look amused.

The song ended and Lily saw Fleur leading Roger into the Entrance Hall, muttering something about a garden.  Lily grabbed James’ hand and pulled him out into the Entrance Hall too, eager to continue spying on Roger.  She’d never seen him acting so foolish and she looked forward to teasing him about it later.

The front doors of the castle stood open and led out into a great, fairy-lit, rose garden that Lily hadn’t noticed before.  Suddenly, she forgot about following Roger as she led James onto the path into the garden.

“This is wonderful!” Lily said after they’d walked for a while.  They seated themselves on a stone bench across from a water fountain in the rose garden.

“Yeah,” James mused cheerfully, poking one of the fairies.  “Yeah, it is kind of nice, isn’t it?”

After a while, the pair moseyed back into the Great Hall.  They found Indigo at the drinks table, red in the face and short of breath from dancing as the Weird Sisters began playing another soft melody.  Lily was helping herself to a butterbeer when someone tapped her on the shoulder.  She swung around.

It was Nikolai, offering her his hand.

“You vill dance?”

Lily looked nervously at Indigo who encouraged her to go with a wave of her hand, and then to James who nodded his permission.  Lily placed her hand in Nikolai’s gingerly and he enveloped her whole hand in a firm grasp, guiding her to the dance floor.

“So, Lily, you are enjoying the tournament?” Nikolai asked as they began to sway to the Weird Sisters’ tune.

“Oh, yes, very much,” Lily answered, once again willing herself to stay calm.  She succeeded in keeping her voice steady, but her mind was reeling.  Why did _he_ want to dance with _her_?  Perhaps he was just being courteous.  Surely it was a mere coincidence that he’d chosen to sit at her table earlier that evening.  And when he realized that she was the one who had crashed into him in the corridor, he thought it would be polite to ask her to dance.  Yes, that was it.

“Your castle is very handsome,” he complimented.  “It is much larger than Durmstrang.”

“Oh,” Lily replied.  “Where _is_ Durmstrang?”

“Ah, that I cannot tell you,” Nikolai smirked.  “But my motherland, Russia, it is very fair in the summer.  My family has a _dacha_ near Lake Ladoga.  Have you seen Russia?”

“Oh, no,” answered Lily.  “No, not yet.”

“You must come,” Nikolai encouraged.  “You vill love it, I am sure.”

“Oh,” Lily nodded, unsure of what else to say.  Nikolai seemed unbothered.

“So,” he went on, “this Irishman who accompanies you...he is your, how you say...partner, yes?”

It took Lily a moment to realize what he was asking, but once she did, she hastily shook her head and said, “Oh, no.  No, not at all.  We’re just good friends.  That’s all.”

“Ah,” Nikolai said with a knowing glance, pulling her a little closer.  “Vell, I do not think he vishes to be only your good friend.”

Merlin, he was forward.  Lily tried not to dwell on what he’d just said.  Fortunately, he was quickly onto another subject, chattering away with such an enchanting Old World charm about what the second task might be that Lily couldn’t help but smile.

She was disappointed when the song ended, and equally surprised when Nikolai swiftly kissed her cheeks three times.

“Ve vill see each other again, I hope?”

“Erm...sure,” Lily stuttered.  “Yeah.”  _Smooth, Lily._

Nikolai’s dark eyes were bright as he smiled softly at Lily and vanished into the crowd.

As if in a trance, Lily hazily found her way back to James and Indigo, who were standing near the front of the stage and flailing wildly to the Weird Sisters' fast beat.  As she processed what had just happened, a sudden joy consumed her and she threw herself into a wild dance alongside her friends just to get the happy energy out.

The rest of the night passed quickly.  Lily spent some time in the garden, a lot of time dancing and screaming the lyrics to every Weird Sisters song, and the rest of the time talking to her friends and drinking butterbeer.  Soon it was midnight and the Great Hall began emptying.  Lily headed up to Ravenclaw Tower with James, grinning stupidly at the happy memory of the wonderful evening.

“Night, James,” Lily said, turning towards the girls staircase.

“G’night,” he said, with a sleepy wave of his hand.

As soon as she was in her room she changed out of her robes and into her pajamas, realizing suddenly that she was very tired.  She laid down in her four-poster and soon the other girls had arrived upstairs and were changed and lying down as well, although they seemed to have loads of energy left as they gossiped away merrily.  It didn’t bother Lily so much, until she was brought into the conversation.

“Lily, you were dancing pretty close to James...” Padma pointed out.

“He’s just your ‘friend’, now, is he?” Mandy added.

Even quiet Morag had to supply, “You _were_ dancing kind of close...”

“Oh, honestly...it’s not like that,” she said, too tired to justify her claim.  A claim that she had suddenly begun to doubt, thanks to Nikolai.

She closed the hangings around her four-poster forcefully.  Lily assumed they’d understood her leaning on James’ shoulder to eavesdrop on Roger and Fleur as something more.  They just didn’t understand.  Why couldn’t they have brought up her dance with Nikolai instead?  _That_ was something to gossip about.  Lily smiled into her pillow and drifted off into a deep sleep, a romanticized vision of Russia colouring her dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lily’s Yule Ball experience is basically the opposite of every school dance I ever went to, but alas, I suppose that’s why it’s called “fiction.”


	16. Grimmauld Place

**5th Year: July 1995**

Lily pressed her forehead against the glass of her bedroom window.  She stared out into her backyard, awaiting the arrival of the Weasley twins.

She'd sent a letter to George a few weeks earlier, asking if she could visit the Burrow for a day or two.  He responded with a vague message, telling her that they weren't at the Burrow, but that she was welcome to visit them where they were, although he couldn't say where that was in case the owl was intercepted.  He also said that they'd have to fly there because the fires were being watched.  This confused Lily greatly, but she arranged for them to pick her up anyway and she was now simply waiting for them to get there.

_Crack!_

Lily's face lit up.  There, in the middle of her backyard, stood the violently red-haired Weasley twins, clutching their brooms.  Lily grabbed her trunk and broomstick and ran down the steps and out the back door, shouting "bye!" to her mother as she went.

Lily ran over to them as fast as she could, dragging her trunk behind her.  When she reached them she dropped her broom and trunk and hugged them both.

"Oh, how _are_ you?" Lily asked excitedly.

"Fine," Fred and George said together.

"So, where exactly are we go-" Lily started.

"We were just getting to that," Fred said.

"Yeah," said George.  "We have some...er...instructions to give you."

"Okay..." said Lily.

"Basically," Fred continued, "you can't ask any questions until we get inside, because we've been given strict orders not to answer any of them.  Just do as we tell you and everything should be fine."

"But we promise we'll clear everything up once we're there," George added.

"Ready, then?" Fred asked, attaching Lily's trunk to her broom and charming it to weigh less.

"I think so," Lily said, mounting her broom.

Fred and George did the same and they took off.

After a relatively short flight, the three landed in the square of a shabby looking Muggle neighbourhood.

"Be quiet when you go in," Fred warned.

"And here," said George, handing Lily a piece of parchment.  "Read that and memorize it quickly."

Lily looked at the parchment.  The thin, slanted script read:

_The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at Number 12, Grimmauld Place, London._

She read the message over a few times, trying to make sense of it.

"I don't under-"

"Look there," Fred said, pointing between houses eleven and thirteen.

Lily looked up and saw a house squeezing its way up between eleven and thirteen.  Once the house had reached a normal size, Fred, George, and Lily entered through the worn black door with a serpent-shaped door knocker.

Mrs. Weasley met them at the door.

"Oh, you made it!" she whispered, hugging the boys.  "I must admit, I was nervous that you wouldn't take this seriously, but - Lily!"

Mrs. Weasley spotted her and hugged her as well.

"So nice to see you!" Mrs. Weasley said, still whispering.  "Is your mother well?  Oh, you're probably starving.  Come down to the kitchen, we're about to have dinner.  Oh, and don't worry about your things, dear, we'll have them taken up to Ginny and Hermione's room later."

They followed Mrs. Weasley down a dark, smelly, hallway that was lined with old portraits and then down a staircase similar to the one leading to the dungeons at Hogwarts.

The kitchen was a cavernous room with rough stone walls.  There were pots and pans hanging from the ceiling, and the main source of light was a large fire at one end of the room.  There was a long wooden table in the middle of the kitchen.

Over a dozen witches and wizards were sitting or standing around the table.  Lily recognized a few of them; Mad-Eye Moody, Professor Lupin, Professor Snape, ( _What is_ he _doing here?_ Lily wondered to herself.), Mr. Weasley, Bill Weasley, and...was that _Sirius Black_?

Lily knew, of course, that he was quite innocent, but it was still a bit shocking to be looking at a man who most of the Wizarding community thought to be a mass murderer.

"We've just finished a meeting," Mrs. Weasley informed Lily.

She could have guessed, though.  A couple of witches that Lily did not know were collecting scrolls of parchment that were scattered across the table.  Empty glasses and bottles were sitting here and there and most of the group seemed to be standing and stretching, as though they'd been seated for a long time.

"Who is this, Molly?" a tall, black, bald wizard asked, nodding at Lily.

"Oh, this is Lily," Mrs. Weasley said.  "She's a friend of the family.”

"Kingsley Shacklebolt," the black wizard said, extending his hand.

"Pleasure to meet you," Lily replied, shaking his hand.

"Sorry I can't stay for dinner, Molly," said Kingsley.

"Nor can we," squeaked a short man who had just walked up behind Kingsley, followed by a group of people that seemed to be leaving as well.

"It's quite alright, Dedalus, Kingsley," Mrs. Weasley said.  "Perhaps some other time?”

"Surely!" Dedalus squeaked.

"Wonderful," said Mrs. Weasley, smiling.  "Good night then, Hestia, Elphias, Severus, Sturgis..."  She waved the group good-bye and they left the kitchen.  "Well, it looks like everyone else is staying to eat.  You three go ahead and sit down.  Introduce Lily to everyone, would you, boys?"

"Oi, everyone!" Fred shouted loudly across the table.

"This," George said, pointing his arm at Lily with a flourish, "is Lily.”

Lily shook hands with everyone at the table; a young witch called Tonks, Emmeline Vance, a very filthy looking wizard called Mundungus Fletcher, Mad-Eye Moody (who studied her carefully with his magical eye before shaking her hand), Professor Lupin, both Weasley men, and finally-

"Sirius," said a pale faced man with long, black hair.

They shook hands and then Lily took her seat between Fred and George just as Ron, Hermione and Ginny came into the kitchen.

"Lily!" Ron shouted when he spotted her.  "All right?" he asked, taking a seat next to George on Lily's right.

Hermione greeted Lily and took a seat next to Ron.  Ginny did the same and sat down between Hermione and Tonks.

Mrs. Weasley levitated a large cauldron of soup, a loaf of bread, and two flagons of butterbeer to the center of the table.

"Tuck in," she said, and everyone began helping themselves to food.

“So," Lily said after she'd gotten a good start on her dinner.  "What exactly _is_ the Order of the Phoenix?"

"It's a secret society," Lupin said.  "Dumbledore founded it.  It's mostly made up of the people who fought against Voldemort last time."

Lily shifted in her seat at the sound of the Dark Lord’s name, as did many of the other people at the table.

"Really?" Lily said, trying to sound natural.  "And this is its headquarters?"

"Yes," Sirius said.  "This was my parents' house.  It hasn't been inhabited for years, but I figured it was something I could contribute to the Order...considering Dumbledore won't let me _leave_ the place..." he ended bitterly.

"It's for your own good," Lupin said.

"Oh, of course," Sirius said sarcastically.

"Well, everything makes a lot more sense, now," Lily said.  "The vague letters, not using Floo powder, all that... Is the house Unplottable?"

"Yes, it is," Sirius said.  "Dumbledore put a Fidelius Charm on it, too.  He’s Secret-Keeper."

"That parchment you looked at before you came in today was hand-written by Dumbledore," said Moody gruffly.  "And I hope," he added, "that that particular piece of parchment has been _burned_?"  He looked at Fred and George.

"Er..." George laughed uncomfortably, shuffled over to the fireplace and threw in a piece of parchment.

"It’s very important that as little information as possible leaves this house.  We need you to promise, Lily," Lupin said once George had sat back down, "that you will tell no one, not even your mother, where you were this week or what you were doing."

"You can tell her you went to the Burrow," Mrs. Weasley suggested.

“And I also ask you to promise," Lupin continued, "that you will speak very little about this place and the goings on here to Fred, George, Ron, Harry and anyone else once you leave."

"I promise," Lily said firmly.

For pudding they had a peanut buttery cheesecake dish.  After eating her slice Lily was very full.  She leaned back in her chair and looked around the table.

Hermione and Ginny were giggling at something.  Lily glanced down the table to see Tonks' spiky purple hair turn sky blue.  Lily stared at her for a moment, surprised.

"Make it red," Ginny said.

Tonks screwed up her face in concentration.  Moments later her hair turned candy red.  Hermione and Ginny laughed again.

"You're a metamorphmagus?" Lily inquired.

"Yeah," Tonks said cheerfully, half way between changing her hair from red to white.

"Cool," Lily said with a smile.

"Hey," Fred whispered to Lily, tapping her on the shoulder.  "We've got to show you something.  Come on."

He and George stood up and Lily followed.  They went up the stairs and into the main hall.

"Where're you going?" whispered a voice behind them.

Lily turned around.  It was Ron.

"Upstairs," George replied.

"To show Lily the Extendable Ears," Fred said.

"Come on, then," said George, beckoning for his younger brother to follow.

They tiptoed up the stairs.  Lily was rather disturbed by the plaques hanging on the wall.  Each had a shriveled house-elf head placed in the middle.  Lily looked the other way and kept walking.

They climbed a few more flights of stairs until they entered a room obviously inhabited by Fred and George.  It was very messy.  Dirty clothes, bits of parchment, sweet wrappers, potion ingredients, boxes, old issues of the Daily Prophet, and empty bottles were spread all over the room.

"Look at these," George said, taking a seat on his bed and pulling a long flesh coloured string out of his pocket.

"What is it?" Lily asked, sitting down next to him.

"Extendable Ears," said Fred, pulling one out of his own pocket.  "You just stick one end in your ear and the other goes off to find the conversation you want to listen to."

“We've been using them to listen in on the Order's meetings," said George.

"Brilliant!" exclaimed Lily.

"Yeah," said Ron, "they've been really-"

But he was cut short by a loud shriek coming from downstairs.  " _Filthy half-breeds!  Scum!  Blood traitors!  Befouling the house of my fathers!  Get out!  GET OUT!_ "

"What the bleeding hell is that?" Lily asked.

"Portrait of Sirius's mum," Ron said casually.

"She's not too happy about us moving in," George said.

"Usually they keep her covered up with those curtains," said Fred.

"But she wakes up when people are too noisy downstairs," George said.

"There, they've got her covered up again," Ron said when the yelling stopped.  "I'm gonna go to bed, I think," he said, yawning.  "G'night..."  He left.

"Look at these, Lily," George said, pulling a few sweets out of a box near his bed.  "Skiving Snackboxes!"

"What?" said Lily.

"Skiving Snackboxes," George repeated.  "They're a range of sweets to make you ill.  Not seriously ill, mind, just ill enough to get you out of class when you want.  We've been developing them this summer.  They're double-ended, colour-coded chews.  If you eat the orange half of a Puking Pastille you throw up.  The moment you're rushed out of the lesson for the hospital wing you swallow the purple half-"

"'-which restores you to full fitness, enabling you to pursue the leisure activity of your choice during an hour that otherwise would have been devoted to unprofitable boredom.'  That's what we want to put in the ads, anyway.  But they still need some work.  We're having trouble stopping throwing up long enough to swallow the purple end," Fred finished.

"That's brilliant, as well!" said Lily.

"We're glad you think so," said George.

"Actually, we were wondering if you'd like to help us test some out," Fred said.

"Sure," Lily said.

"We haven’t tested the Fainting Fancies yet," Fred said.

"Alright."

"Okay," George said, taking one of the candies he was holding and unwrapping it.  "We'll give you this orange bit and you'll pass out."

"Then," Fred continued, "we'll give you this purple end and you'll wake up.  Easy enough, right?

"Okay, here you are then," said George, putting the orange end of the candy into her mouth.  Lily chewed it for a few seconds and then everything went black.

***

"Well, what're we going to do?"

Lily woke up feeling very confused.  She was lying in George's bed, and judging by the sunlight streaming in through the crack in the curtains, it was morning.

"We can't tell Mum..."

"We might have to if she doesn't wake up."

"Should we try giving her another purple end?"

"Considering the first eleven didn't do anything..."

"Good point."

Lily opened her eyes half way.  She saw Fred and George standing in the middle of the room wearing only their pajama bottoms.  She sat up.

"Lily!" George said, running over to the bed.  "How do you feel?"

"Bloody confused!" she said.  "What's going on?"

"We think we made the orange ends of that batch of Fainting Fancies a bit too powerful, and the purple ends a bit too weak," said Fred.  "We'll have to work on that."

"Yeah," said George.  "You fainted like you were supposed to, but nothing happened when we gave you the purple end."

"So we just left you unconscious," Fred said.

"We wanted to keep you up here, though, to monitor you," George said.

"You know, in case you grew tentacles or something...better for you to attack us than Hermione and Ginny," said Fred.

“Or in case you woke up," George said.  "We wanted to be there to explain what happened.  Anyway, we told Ginny and Hermione about the situation-"

"Hermione had a bit of a fit..."

"But Ginny managed to make sure Mum thought you were in their room.  We waited for a while before we went to bed.  We thought you might wake up."

"You didn't, though, so we just stopped waiting and went to sleep."

"You were still asleep when we woke up," said George.

“Yeah, we were starting to get nervous."

"But you're up now, and okay, I think, just a bit disoriented."

"Yeah," said Lily.

"Let's go down to breakfast, then, if you're alright," Fred said.

The twins put on shirts and the three of them went down to the kitchen.

***

Lily spent most of the rest of the week helping Mrs. Weasley and the others clean out the bedrooms.  She became better acquainted with members of the Order, especially Sirius, seeing as he was always at headquarters.  Unfortunately, Lily met the house-elf Kreacher, too.  He was a pitiful sight, always talking to himself and cursing the Order under his breath.  While Hermione tried to make friends with him, Lily did her best to avoid him at all costs.

She also helped Fred and George organize things for their joke shop.  She helped write up order forms and the ads they were to send to the Daily Prophet.

Far too soon it was Lily's last evening at number twelve, Grimmauld Place.  She was collecting her belongings that had managed to scatter themselves around the twins' room when George came in.

"Packing up?" he asked her.

"Yeah," Lily said.  "Have you seen my book?  The one with the blue cover?"

"It's just there," George said, pointing towards the corner.

"Ah, thanks," Lily said, fetching her book.

"Well, I'm going to go back downstairs.  Dinner's almost ready," said George.

"Alright," said Lily.  "I'll be down in just a minute."

"Oh, and Lily..."

"Yeah?" she said, turning around.

He kissed her.  Lily hadn't been kissed like that before.  It was sweet and unexpected, and it felt right.

George left without saying anything and Lily just stood there, very surprised.  She certainly hadn't seen _that_ coming, but all the same was very happy it had.

The twins and Lily set out early the next morning.  Lily said goodbye to everyone, hugged Ron and Sirius, and signed Harry's birthday card before she and the twins walked out into the morning darkness, mounted their brooms and took off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plausibility of this chapter nags at me. On the one hand, it doesn’t seem like the Order of the Phoenix would want a bunch of teenage wizards popping in and out visiting their friends all summer, especially when Number Twelve is Unplottable and has a Fidelius Charm on it. The more people that know about it, the weaker the charm would be. That said, Hermione spends half the summer there, though in reality that was likely more for the sake of plot convenience than logic. I’ve also heard arguments that since Hermione was known to be one of the people closest to Harry, she could have been a potential target for the Death Eaters to get to Harry through her, so she would have been safer at Grimmauld Place. Lydia is a pretty hands-off parent, so I don’t think she would have questioned Lily being off with the Weasleys for a week, but whether or not the other Weasley children were allowed to have friends over that summer remains questionable. What do you think? Were Harry, Hermione, and the Weasley children the only underage, non-Order members who visited Grimmauld Place? Is there any way to justify having their friends round to the Unplottable headquarters of an underground organization, when they could have met up literally anywhere else? Please let me know what you think with a comment!


	17. Ravenclaw Quidditch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the chapter in which I carry on in excessive detail about my Ravenclaw Quidditch headcanon.

**5 th Year: November 1995**

“Just a few laps to warm up,” Roger Davies called to his Quidditch team. 

The seven players took off.  The air was icy but fresh on their faces.  After flying around in completely random directions for five minutes, the team made a circle in the air.  Lily shed her mittens and let them fall to the ground, revealing brown leather, fingerless Keeping gloves.

“Alright,” Roger shouted to the group.  “Take your positions.  I’ll go release a Bludger and the Snitch.”

Everyone flew into position as the balls were released. 

The Chasers, Corwin Chambers, Flynn Bradley, and Roger Davies took their places.  Corwin was a sixth year with clean-cut, golden brown hair and glasses.  He was exceptionally smart, even for a Ravenclaw, and was skilled at strategizing.  Flynn Bradley was a red-haired fourth year.  He was a tough player and always very cheerful.  Roger Davies was the very popular, very handsome seventh year Captain.  He was a full two years older than Cho and Corwin, seeing as he was unfortunate enough to have his birthday fall on September second.  Thus, he wasn’t allowed to start at Hogwarts until the day before his twelfth birthday.  He looked older, too.  His hair was an intensely dark brown, though it wasn’t quite black, and his eyes were a sort of cerulean.  Davies was much more down to earth than many made him out to be, and Lily felt he was a very able Captain and loyal friend.

Rohan Sykes, a well-muscled seventh year with brown skin, played Beater.  Edgar Mason (a second year who was always called by his last name) was the newest addition to the team and Rohan’s counterpart.  He was built a bit too small for a Beater, but he played just as well as any of the lugs on Slytherin’s team.  Mason was fiercely athletic, and anyone who doubted his abilities because of his size was silenced once they saw him play. 

Lily was Keeper.  She’d been playing for Ravenclaw since her second year.  Lily was a very graceful flier known for elegant saves and dives.

Cho Chang played Seeker.  She played hard, but she didn’t have Harry’s natural talent or Draco’s expensive broom.  Lily and Cho got along well (most of the time), despite their polar opposite social circles.

“We’re starting,” Roger called out, throwing the Quaffle to Corwin who tossed it to Flynn.

Flynn bolted towards Lily and chucked the Quaffle at the right goal hoop.  She dashed to the side and caught the ball by the tips of her fingers.  She flung it to Corwin and they continued.

Cho managed to catch the Snitch eight times over the next two hours.  Despite Mason nearly knocking Rohan’s arm off with his bat and a few fumbley misses by Lily, practice went exceptionally well.

“Well done, everyone,” Roger said after they’d all changed.  “I’m pretty sure we’ll crush Hufflepuff tomorrow.”

Lily looked at him in disbelief.

“Oh, come on, Lily,” he said, throwing his arm around her shoulders as they walked out of the locker room.  “What’s wrong?”

“I played _dreadfully_ today!” she said.

“You played fine!  Really, there’s no use worrying.  You’re too hard on yourself.  Rest tonight and you’ll play strong in the morning.  I know it.”

She sighed as they approached the castle.  “Thanks, Roger.”

***

“The weather’s good, at least,” Lily said, stepping onto the pitch with her team the next morning.  She looked over the Hufflepuff team and felt a pang in her stomach when she remembered that Cedric wasn’t there.  This would be the first time Lily played Hufflepuff without Cedric as Seeker, and it stung not to see him smiling on the opposite side of the pitch after everything that had happened.    She knew she had to focus, though.  She shook Cedric from her thoughts as best she could and stepped into place.

The day was sunny but cold.  The Ravenclaw team wore deep blue robes while Hufflepuff wore bright yellow.  Madame Hooch conducted the preliminary procedures, blew her whistle and tossed up the Quaffle to begin the match.

Cho caught the Snitch in forty five minutes.  Lily only let in two goals, and Mason managed to tastefully wipe out the Hufflepuff Keeper halfway into the game, leaving their goal hoop undefended for the remainder of the match.  The final score was 300 to 20.


	18. Dumbledore's Army

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of the text in this chapter comes directly from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I do not claim to have written it.

**5 th Year: April 1996**

Padma Patil slipped into her dormitory and looked around.  Once she was sure she and Lily were quite alone, she said, “Are you ready to go?”

"Yes,” Lily said, taking her wand from the bedside cabinet and putting it in the pocket of her robes.  “We’re sure it’s today?”

Both girls dug into their pockets and pulled out a galleon.  They examined the coins, nodded to each other, and then headed downstairs.

A small group consisting of Terry Boot, Michael Corner, Cho Chang, Anthony Goldstein and Luna Lovegood had already gathered in front of the doorway.

“We can’t all go at once,” Cho said quietly as Padma and Lily joined them.

“Of course not,” Michael Corner replied.  “We’ll go in pairs, like usual.”

“Marietta isn’t here,” Luna stated serenely, her orb-like eyes falling on Cho.

“No, she’s not feeling well,” Cho said.  “Anyway, who’s first, then?”

“We are,” Terry said, gesturing to Anthony.  “Come on.”

The boys left.

"Us next,” Lily said, walking forward with Padma.

"Give them a minutes head start,” Cho said.

After a few moments Cho looked at her watch and said, “Alright, go ahead.”

Padma and Lily opened the door, ran down the tightly spiraling staircase that led to Ravenclaw Tower, and then headed up the corridor towards the seventh floor.  Once they reached the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, they walked past it three times, focusing on the room where their D.A. meetings had taken place all year.  Lily had joined the D.A. because she hated Umbridge and liked the inter-house unity the group created, but if she was honest, she had also joined because she really wanted to pass her Defense Against the Dark Arts OWL.

After their third pass in front of the tapestry, a door materialized on the opposite wall and they rushed in.

All of the Gryffindor members and a few Hufflepuffs were already there, along with Terry and Anthony.  Hermione greeted the girls when they entered.

“Oh, hello, Lily - Padma!” she said, brightly.  “We’re just waiting for everyone else to arrive.  They should be here soon.”

She was right.  Fifteen minutes later the entire D.A. had arrived, and Harry began explaining proper technique for conjuring Patronuses.

“Patronuses are used to ward off dementors –“

“And lethifolds,” Hermione interrupted.

“Erm, right,” Harry went on.  “And lethifolds.  Anyway, if you cast the spell properly your Patronus can take the shape of an animal and act as a shield between you and a dementor.

“Now, you’ve got to think of something happy while you’re saying the incantation, _expecto patronum_.”

“ _Expecto patronum_ ,” the class chirped back.

"Good.  Now, I have to warn you, producing a Patronus when you’re in real danger is going to be a lot different than producing one in a brightly lit room like this.  But anyway, let’s spread out and start trying.”

Lily stood between George and Padma and tried to recall happy memories.  She thought of her summer at Grimmauld Place, of the Yule Ball, and how satisfying it was to be defying Umbridge’s authority right under her nose.

“ _Expecto patronum!_ ” she bellowed.  A wisp of silvery smoke emitted from the end of her rowan wand.

A quarter of an hour later, she still hadn’t succeeded in producing anymore than silvery wisps. 

“This is harder than I thought it would be,” she said to Padma, who was struggling as well.

“Think of something powerful and happy,” Harry reminded them as he walked by.  “You’ll get it.”

Lily thought hard about her summer, and tried again.

 _"Expecto patronum!_ ”

This time, instead of just producing fog, a thin but large bird shot out of the end of her wand.  She smiled as it soared about the room.

“Hey, well done, Lily!” Padma said, turning to watch.  “But…what is it?”

Lily examined her Patronus for a moment before it dawned on her.

“I think…I think it’s an Augurey!” Lily said excitedly.

“Isn’t the Augurey’s cry supposed to foretell death?” Michael asked.

“Oh, no, no,” Lily said.  “That’s just a myth.  Their cry predicts rain!”

Lily smiled as she watched her Augurey fly around the room.  She was distracted, however, by the sound of a door opening and closing again.  She looked around for the intruder, and spotted a very oddly dressed house-elf standing in the middle of the room, talking to Harry.

“What’s he saying?” George asked Lily.

"Shut up, I’m trying to listen.”

“Harry Potter…she…she…” squeaked the house-elf, promptly punching himself in the face.

“Who’s ‘she’, Dobby?” Harry asked.  “Umbridge?”

Dobby nodded.

“What about her?  Dobby – she hasn’t found out about this – about us – about the D.A.?”

Dobby looked terrified.  He tried to kick himself, but Harry restrained him and he fell on the floor.

“Is she coming?” Harry Potter asked quietly.

Dobby howled and then shouted, “Yes, Harry Potter, yes!”

Lily and all the other members of the D.A. were staring at Harry with terror-stricken faces.

“WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?” he bellowed.  “RUN!”

They didn’t need to be told twice.  Lily and Padma grabbed each others hands and sprinted for the door.  Once they broke through the mob of people they took off down the hall.

“We shouldn’t try to get back to Ravenclaw Tower,” Padma panted.  “It’s too far.”

“Let’s go to the Owlery, then,” Lily said.

The girls swung around and sprinted around the corner towards the Owlery.  They arrived at their destination two minutes later, hearts racing and out of breath.

“I hope…everyone…got back…alright,” Padma said, leaning out the glass-less window for air.

“So…do…I,” Lily said, clutching her chest.

Once the girls had regained their composure, they left the Owlery and headed down two flights towards their dormitory.  They were almost home free when they ran into Pansy Parkinson on the sixth floor staircase.

“And where have _you_ two been?” she asked menacingly.

“In the Owlery,” Lily said coolly.

“What were you doing up there so late?” Pansy went on.

“Giving a letter to Elijah,” Lily continued resolutely.

“Who’s Elijah?” she asked.

“He’s her _owl_ , you idiot,” Padma snapped.  Lily had never seen Padma so riled and for a moment she thought she may have fled the Room of Requirement with Parvati by mistake.  But a quick second glance proved that it was Padma – she had blue and bronze tie around her neck just as Lily did.

Pansy clicked her tongue.  “Be careful, Patil,” she said, pointing to the little silver I pinned to her robes.  “I wouldn’t be calling members of the Inquisitorial Squad names, if I were you.”

Lily and Padma both rolled their eyes and pushed passed her.

“I cannot _stand_ her,” Padma said, once they were out of Pansy’s earshot.

“Me either,” Lily said.  “All the Slytherin girls are like that, too.”

The girls had a nice time bashing the Inquisitorial Squad on their way back to the common room, and when they arrived home they were pleased to see that everyone else had made a safe return as well. 

“Well, that was quite enough excitement for one night,” Lily said to Padma as she collapsed into a chair near the window.  “I’m going to go review Charms a bit before bed.”

“Okay,” Padma said.  “I’ll be up soon.  G’night, Lily.”

“’Night.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The core members of Dumbledore’s Army are obviously in it for the long haul and the ultimate end game of defeating Voldemort, but I imagine some of the students would have joined for the same reasons Lily did: to defy Umbridge, to learn defensive spells, and to have fun with their schoolmates. Do you agree? Please share your thoughts with a comment!


	19. Results and Retreat

**6 th Year**: **July 1996**

“The post is here, Lily,” Lydia called, putting down her black coffee and taking the letters from the owls that had delivered them.

Lily came sliding into the kitchen.  “Are they here?!” she demanded.

“Check for yourself,” Lydia said, sipping her coffee.

Lily rummaged through the envelopes, throwing them left and right, until she found what she was looking for: a large, square envelope that contained her OWL results.  She tore the envelope open and examined the sheet within.

 

**_Lily Amber Carling-Lestrange has achieved:_ **

****

Ancient Runes                                                             O

Arithmancy                                                                 O

Astronomy                                                                  O

Care of Magical Creatures                                           O

Charms                                                                       O

Defense Against the Dark Arts                                     O

Herbology                                                                    O

History of Magic                                                           E

Potions                                                                        O

Transfiguration                                                            O

 

Lily breathed a sigh of relief.  She had been waiting for the results for weeks, and she had been quite convinced that she’d failed everything.

"Well, thank Merlin I’m finished with History of Magic forever,” Lily said.  “I will miss Astronomy and Care of Magical Creatures a bit, though…”

She was handing the results sheet to Lydia when she noticed another letter addressed to her on the table.  She picked it up and ran up to her room.

She could tell who the letter was from right away; the bold, angular script told her it was from Nikolai.

_Dorogaya Lily,_

_We have not spoken in some time, yes?  I hope you are well and safe.  I know that these past weeks have been dark, especially in England.  There has been tragedy here, too, but not to such a grand degree.  This is why I am wondering if you should like to come stay with me for some time next month.  My father has connections at the Russian Ministry, so it will not be difficult to arrange transportation.  I wish that it will be safer for you here, even if only for a short time.  I hope we will meet again soon._

_Lubov,_

_Nikolai_

Lily wrote back immediately saying that she’d love to go, and in two weeks time she found her self standing in front of an old tire with her trunk in hand.  The eerie mist that had been swirling about the country all summer engulfed her.  She reached out her hand, touched the tire and was instantly falling into a swirl of colour.

Lily stumbled when she landed among the large rocks on the shore of Lake Ladoga, but she didn’t fall.  It was much sunnier here.  Nikolai was waiting for her on the beach.  She ran over and hugged him and he kissed her cheeks three times.

“Velcome to my home,” he said.  “I vill help you vith your things.”

He levitated her trunk and they walked up the stony path to his _dacha_.  After a short walk they came to a house nestled in the trees.  It reminded Lily of some sort of fairytale cottage, although it was sharper and darker somehow, and had more turrets than a normal cottage would.  Nikolai opened the door for her and she stepped into the foyer.  Glass double doors were open wide on the far side of the room, and Lily was surprised to see so many people sitting around a table on the back patio and arguing loudly in Russian.  Sunlight streamed in from outside, dappling the black leather couch and grand stone fireplace of the sitting room with soft light.  There was a small kitchen and dining area off to one side, and to Lily’s immediate right there stood a dark wooden staircase. 

“The bedrooms are up here,” Nikolai said, heading up the stairs with Lily’s trunk still floating in front of him.  “Follow me.

"You vill be sleeping here,” he said, setting Lily’s trunk down at the foot of an iron four poster bed in a circular room.  They were obviously in one of the house’s turrets.  “I am sorry it is so small,” Nikolai added.

“Oh, no, it’s perfect!” Lily said, running over to the large window directly across from the door.  “I can see the lake!”

"Yes, it is very lovely in the summer.  Vould you like to see the rest of the house?  And then I vill introduce you to my family.”

Lily agreed and Nikolai showed her the rest of the upstairs, which included several bedrooms and a staircase to the attic.  The master bathroom was downstairs to the left of the front door, and it was nearly twice the size of Lily’s bedroom.  It housed a huge stone tub and a separate stone shower with dueling shower heads.  Since Lily had already seen the kitchen, dining room, and living room from the foyer the pair headed downstairs.

Lily expected it to be dungeon-like, so she was surprised to step into a vast library.  The walls were covered in shelves containing dusty volumes of books.  The center of the room held another large sofa, although this one was dark green and softer looking.  There was also a stone fireplace in the middle of the room, similar to the one upstairs, and a fully-stocked bar at the far end.

“Vell, vhat do you think?” Nikolai asked expectantly.

“It’s incredible!” Lily said, spinning around.  “Honestly, I think I’d move in here if I could.”

Nikolai laughed.  “Come.”

He led her back upstairs and out into the backyard where his family was gathered.  Nikolai’s father was the only one who had some English, but Nikolai’s grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and other guests welcomed her with smiles, nods, and drinks.  They called Nikolai “Kolya” and the diminutive made Lily smile.  She would have to start using it herself.

Nikolai said something to his father in Russian and the family waved good-bye as Nikolai led Lily out the front door.

“You must be hungry after your journey,” Nikolai decided.  “Come.  There is a good _kafe_ in town.”

They walked up the country lane arm-in-arm.  Lily smiled, enjoying the sunny scenery and the company.  Before long, they turned and came upon a small collection of quaint buildings.  Nikolai led her down a flight of concrete steps into an underground café.  Lily wondered briefly if it was a Muggle restaurant, but the moment she entered, two drink glasses zoomed by her head and clunked down on a table in the far corner of the dark bar.

Nikolai sat Lily in a booth near a small, red glass window and then approached the bar where he ordered in Russian before joining Lily at the table with two coffees in hand.

“Is there a big wizarding community here?” asked Lily, watching as the wizard in the booth across the café attempted to Transfigure a toad into a tortoise while sipping a small glass of vodka.  The Transfiguration seemed to have succeeded, until the tortoise hopped off the table like a frog and began leaping towards the door, vying for escape.

“No,” Nikolai replied, drinking his coffee.  “There is a vizarding community, but it is quite small.”

Lily swirled cream into her own coffee and took a sip.

"So, you are here for the whole week, yes?" Nikolai inquired.

"Yes," Lily nodded.  “Thank you again for inviting me.  Things aren't going so well in Britain.  People are really getting scared now the Ministry's stopped denying everything and You-Know-Who's been making his presence known all over the country."

"Yes," Nikolai said, placing his hand over hers.  "That is why you are here."

Lily smiled back at him as a dark haired witch levitated a cauldron of soup onto their table and conjured two bowls and two spoons.  Nikolai thanked the woman as Lily peered into the cauldron skeptically.

"It is borsch," said Nikolai.  "It is delicious.  Try it."

Lily helped herself to soup, and was surprised that it didn't taste at all unpleasant.

The next several days passed lazily and pleasantly.  Nikolai and his family were wonderful hosts, and the pair spent a lot of time swimming in the lake, reading books in the basement library, and drinking coffee in the _kafe_.  All too soon, Lily's last day arrived.

Nikolai helped her bring her luggage down to the Portkey by the lake - an old fishing net this time.  Once Lily was sure she had everything, Nikolai took her hand and kissed it.

"Thank you again for having me, Kolya," said Lily sweetly.

"It vas a pleasure.  I hope you vill return someday."

He kissed cheeks and they smiled at each other as the Portkey began to glow.

"Goodbye, Lily," Nikolai said with a nod.

Lily touched the fishing net and vanished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The phonetically written Russian accent makes me cringe so hard! But at the time I wrote this, I was just trying to mimic Jo, so now we all have to suffer the consequences of that questionable stylistic decision.


	20. March First

**6 th Year: 1 March 1997**

March came in forcefully with a nasty thunderstorm.  Rain beat against the tall windows of the hospital wing as it had been doing all morning.  Lily was straightening the sheets and pillows on the beds when Madam Pomfrey rushed out of her office.

"Lily, pull out all the general antidotes you can find and fetch me the large flask of essence of rue.  Someone’s been poisoned down in the Potion’s wing…”  And with that she rushed downstairs.

Lily did as she was told immediately.  She placed several small bottles containing different coloured liquids on a nightstand, along with one large bottle of a dark reddish orange substance.  Then she went and stood in the back of the room so she’d be out of the way when the patient arrived.

After not more than five minutes, Madam Pomfrey returned, along with Professors McGonagall and Slughorn, who were carrying an unconscious and blue-skinned Ron Weasley on a stretcher.  Harry Potter followed in after them.

The teachers placed Ron in bed.  Right away Madam Pomfrey set to work with the potions Lily had laid out earlier as Harry and Professor Slughorn told the nurse exactly what had happened.

Not much occurred that day after the initial chaos.  Professor Dumbledore asked Harry to recount his tale once more, and after that Harry was made to wait outside the doors of the infirmary for several hours.  Eventually Hermione and Ginny could be seen waiting with him.  Lily felt guilty that Ron’s best friends and sister were made to wait outside while Lily was allowed in, but there wasn’t much she could do about it. 

Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Slughorn came and went throughout the day, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley arrived around dinner time.  It was only then that Lily realized she’d skipped lunch, so she made her way unnoticed out of the hospital wing.  She tried to convince Harry, Hermione and Ginny to come eat with her, but they didn’t want to leave.

Lily rushed back upstairs as soon as she finished eating.  She stopped, however, when she saw two identical ginger haired heads walking towards the infirmary ahead of her.

“Hey!” Lily shouted to the twins.  They turned around.

“Lily!” they said in unison.

She ran towards them and grabbed them both around the neck.  She hadn't seen them since December when she'd stayed at the Burrow for Christmas.

“It’s so good to see you!” she said.  “But what’re you doing here?  Heading to see Ron, I’d expect?”

“Well, we’d originally come to look at Zonko’s,” said Fred.

“We were looking into buying it so we could have a Hogsmeade branch,” George said.

“Although that’ll be rather useless if they’re not letting you lot visit on the weekends anymore…  But either way, we were going to give Ron his birthday present while we were here,” Fred said.

“But when we arrived we were told what had happened,” George said solemnly.

"He’s doing better,” Lily said.  “I was in there this morning when they brought him up, and he’s doing loads better.”

"What were you doing in the infirmary this morning?  No Quidditch?” Fred asked.

“What?  No,” Lily said.  “Roger canceled practice because it was hailing and lightning this morning.  But anyway, Madam Pomfrey thinks he’ll be well within the week.”

“Well that’s good news, I suppose,” George said.  “Oh, by the way, did you get your package this week?  We were a bit worried that the owls wouldn’t be able to handle the long trip in this weather…”

Ever since the joke shop had opened, Fred and George had made a habit of sending Ginny and Lily little packages of sweets every week.

“Oh, no, everything arrived just fine.  Right on time,” Lily said.

“Good to hear,” said George, “But anyway, we’d best be going in…”

“I’m just going to make sure that Madam Pomfrey doesn’t need my help with anything, and then I think I’m going to go to bed,” said Lily.  “I’ll leave Ron alone with his family.”

“He’d like to have you there, you know,” Fred said.

“I know, but I don’t want to be in the way.”

“Fair enough,” said George.  “Listen, do you want to meet down in the kitchens around midnight?  We can all catch up a bit.”

“Yeah, that sounds good,” said Lily, smiling.  “I’ll see you then.”

With that the three headed around the corner to the hospital.  Fred and George sat down next to their brother.  Madam Pomfrey dismissed Lily, so she headed up to Ravenclaw Tower to rest for a few hours before heading down to the kitchens at midnight.


	21. Sectumsempra

**6 th Year: May 1997**

_Smash!_

“Oh…”

It was a Friday afternoon in May, and Lily was in the hospital wing helping Madam Pomfrey organize her antidote cupboard.  She’d been pouring a small bottle of Shrinking Solution into a larger vial when it slipped her grip and shattered on the floor.  Lily pulled out her wand and aimed it at the shards on the ground.  They came together and the bottle reformed.  Lily was able to perform most spells without saying the incantation now.

As Lily was placing the freshly repaired bottle on the shelf, Madam Pomfrey came out of her office.

“What was that?” she asked.

“Oh, I just dropped a vial,” Lily said.  “It’s okay.  I fixed it.  Nothing spilled.”

“Lily, you should go relax.  I know you’ve got the Quidditch final tomorrow.”

“It’s alright,” replied Lily.  “I’d rather keep busy.”

“Are you nervous?” the nurse asked kindly while rummaging through the cupboard.

Lily shrugged.  “Only a bit.  Gryffindor has to win by three hundred points to take the cup away from us.  Not that they couldn’t do it…but we’ve been training really hard and the odds are in our favour, so…”

"I’m sure everything will go fine,” Madam Pomfrey smiled.  “Now, be a dear and put these on my desk for me.”

She handed Lily several little, amber bottles.  Lily slipped into Madam Pomfrey’s office and put the bottles in a row on her desk.  As Lily was lining up the seventh bottle she heard footsteps and voices behind the doors.  She crept over to the slightly ajar double doors and poked out her head.  Her gray eyes widened when she saw Professor Snape whispering urgently to Madam Pomfrey with an extremely pallid and blood soaked Malfoy lying limply in the bed beside them.

Madam Pomfrey nodded at Snape and walked briskly towards her office.

“Lily, fetch a bowl of water, please.”

Madam Pomfrey rushed passed her, potion in hand, and Lily did as she was instructed.  She carried the bowl to Draco’s bedside where Madam Pomfrey was spooning him essence of dittany and Professor Snape was hovering with his arms folded. 

"I’ll be back later this evening, Poppy,” Snape said.

“Very well,” she replied.

Snape glanced at Lily, who was still holding the bowl of water, and turned towards the door, his black robes billowing behind him.

“You can just set that on the table, Lily,” Madam Pomfrey said, giving Draco one more spoonful of dittany and capping the bottle.

Lily set the bowl on the table and Madam Pomfrey gave Malfoy a cupful of a sleeping draft.  Then she took a sponge, dipped it in the water and wiped as much blood off of Malfoy’s face and hands as she could.

"I have to write up a report for Mr. Malfoy,” Madam Pomfrey said, standing up.

“I’ll stay here,” Lily said, taking Madam Pomfrey’s seat.

As soon as Madam Pomfrey was safely shut into her office, Lily pushed a few strand strands of hair out of Draco’s face.  He’d been acting so differently all year, and Lily had a horrible guess as to why.  She grabbed his left wrist and ran her thumb along the inside of it, but she couldn’t bring herself to lift up the sleeve of his robe to see if the Dark Lord had really left his mark on such juvenile skin.  Half of her wanted to sit there with him for hours, but the other half knew he was headed in a dark direction.

“You stupid boy,” Lily said, standing up with a jolt and knocking over her chair.

“What’s going on?” Madam Pomfrey asked, standing in the door of her office, parchment in hand.

“Nothing,” Lily said, putting the chair back upright.  “I…I think I’m going to go get some rest now.”

Madame Pomfrey nodded.  “Good luck tomorrow, Lily.”

Lily smiled weakly, thanked her, and left the hospital wing.  She passed a very distraught looking Pansy Parkinson on the way, no doubt heading to the infirmary to see Draco.  She avoided making eye contact with Pansy, but rolled her eyes at her tear stained face as she passed.


	22. After the Funeral

**6 th Year: June 1997**

The past few days had all been very unpleasantly surreal for the Hogwarts students and staff.  The days had dragged on slowly for Lily.   She’d been worrying about Draco, for one.  She knew his sudden disappearance from the castle was not a good sign.  She wondered whether Hogwarts would even be open next year.  But above all, her heart was heavy with grief at the passing of their beloved headmaster, Dumbledore.

Dumbledore’s funeral had just concluded, and the guests were all making their way off the grounds.  Lily was walking mindlessly along the edge of the lake with Indigo and James when Lydia came up to her.

“When did you get here?” Lily asked flatly.

“I came in with Madam Malkin this morning,” she replied.  “Would you like to Apparate back to Diagon Alley with me, Lily?”

"No,” Lily said plainly.  “I’m taking the train back.”

“Alright,” said Lydia.

“And I’m staying at Fred and George’s tonight,” Lily added, noting that the twins were standing nearby, comforting their sobbing mother. 

“Fine,” Lydia said.  “If you don’t get into London too late you can drop the things you don’t need off at the shop and I’ll take them home for you.”

“Thanks,” Lily said.

Lydia nodded and walked away.  Once Lydia was lost in the crowd Lily went over to Fred and George.  George was busy with his mum, so Lily hugged Fred and sighed.

“I know,” Fred said.  “I can’t really wrap my mind around all this.”

“Nor can I,” Lily said.  “Listen, I’m going to be in London tonight anyway and I was wond-“

“You should come over, then,” Fred interrupted.

Lily nodded.

“You can just Apparate back with us if you want,” Fred offered.

"No.  I’m taking the train.”

“Okay then,” Fred said.  He kissed the top of her head and she headed back towards the lake to be with Indigo and James.

***

The train ride home had been long and solemn, and when Lily finally reached Diagon Alley it was late and she was exhausted.  First she dragged her trunk up the near empty street to the robe shop, where she unlocked the side door and put everything she didn’t need into her mother’s sewing room.  Then, carrying a much smaller bag of necessities, she headed for the joke shop.

The lights were still on downstairs when she arrived, but there weren’t any customers.  When Lily walked in George was straightening boxes on a shelf.  She dropped her bag, ran over to him, grabbed him around the middle and started sobbing into his robes.  It was the first time she’d cried since Dumbledore’s death.  She wasn’t sure how long they stood there for, but after a while George lifted up her face and wiped her cheeks with his thumb.

“Are you hungry?” he asked, smiling a little.

“Yeah,” Lily said, wiping her face with her sleeve.

“Fred’s got dinner ready upstairs.  Come on.”

He took her hand and led her upstairs to the tiny flat.  Fred already had a cauldron of stew set in the middle of the table, along with three bowls, three glasses, a plate of bread and a flagon of butterbeer.

Fred greeted Lily and they all sat down.  They didn’t talk much during their meal, but they did discuss Bill’s injuries and his upcoming wedding.  They were sharing their fondest memories of Dumbledore as they finished eating.

“Hang on,” Fred said, just as George was recounting a particularly amusing story.  He got up and rummaged through a kitchen cupboard for a moment, and when he returned he was carrying a bottle of firewhisky and three shot glasses.  He poured three drinks and distributed them around the table.  Then he lifted his own glass and said, “To Dumbledore!”

George and Lily followed suit, and the three of them emptied their glasses.  Then they continued to talk about the good times they’d had with their late headmaster.  They stayed up for hours, laughing and celebrating Dumbledore’s life, and sometimes sitting in silence, reflecting and grieving.  Eventually they all decided that they needed sleep, so they went to bed.

Lily woke up the next morning feeling strange.  Suddenly Dumbledore’s death seemed much more real to her.  She knew that she would never see him again, and that Hogwarts would never quite be the same.  But she also felt like the world was moving at it’s normal pace again, and she knew that life would go on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think it was like for other Hogwarts students who just went straight home after Dumbledore’s funeral – maybe home to a Muggle life where no one knew who Dumbledore was? Please share your thoughts with a comment, and as always, thank you for reading!


	23. Headquarters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of the text in this chapter comes directly from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I do not claim to have written it.

**7 th Year: 27 July 1997**

"Good luck!  Be safe!  Be careful!  Hurry back!”

Mrs. Weasley was bustling through the small crowd of people gathered in her backyard, hugging everyone she could reach and wishing them a successful voyage.  Mad-Eye Moody, Lupin, Tonks, Bill, Fleur, Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, Mr. Weasley, Kingsley, Hagrid, and Mundungus Fletcher were all preparing to fly to Surrey to pick Harry Potter up from his Aunt and Uncle's house and return him safely to the Burrow.  Lily, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley were the only ones staying behind.  Ginny was none too happy about the arrangement, but Lily didn't mind.  She was only concerned about her friends' safe return home.

"I hope they'll be okay," Lily said with a sigh as thirteen specs flew off into the distance.

"Oh, everything will be alright," Mrs. Weasley said with a smile, though she didn't sound too sure.  "Let's go inside, then, girls.  I'll make some tea.  They're going to be gone a while."

The three headed into the house.  Lily had been invited to the Burrow for Bill and Fleur's wedding, but Ginny and George convinced their mum to let her arrive two weeks early.  Ginny was happy for the company because she was often left behind when the others were busy doing work for the Order.  Mrs. Weasley didn't mind having an extra set of hands to help with the wedding preparations, either.  And the other Weasley boys were glad to have her there because now they had enough people to play three-a-side Quidditch in the orchard when they got the chance.

Ginny and Lily sat down on the sitting room couch and Mrs. Weasley went into the kitchen and turned on the radio.  The girls could hear her putting on the tea over Celestina Warbeck singing "A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love".

Ginny groaned.  "Mum listens to her _way_ too much."

Lily laughed and said, "You know, Professor Slughorn had a cauldron of Amortentia brewed up on our first day of class last year.  And love potion smells different to everyone, right?  Well, Hermione was getting really excited, being able to answer all of Professor Slughorn's questions, and she said hers smelled like new parchment and fresh cut grass, but she stopped herself before saying the third scent."

"I wonder what it was," Ginny said.  "Probably smelled like Ron's old socks or something."

Lily laughed again.  "Probably."

"What did it smell like for you?" Ginny asked.

"Well now, that's sort of a personal question, isn't it?" said Lily, smiling.

"Oh, come on," Ginny pleaded.

"It smells like coffee, lemons, and gunpowder."

"Gunpowder?" repeated Ginny.

"Gunpowder.”

"Tea is ready!" Mrs. Weasley called from the kitchen.

The girls went into the other room and sat down at the table.  Mrs. Weasley poured three cups of tea, and passed around the milk and sugar.  They drank quietly for a few minutes until Lily broke the silence.

"I'm just so nervous about all of this," she said.  Their days of playing Quidditch in the paddock seemed centuries ago.  "I just want everyone to make it back in one piece..."

Lily glanced up at the clock and was not comforted to see that every Weasley's hand was pointing towards "mortal peril".

"It's been like that for a year," Ginny said, noticing Lily looking at the clock.  "I don't worry about it too much any more."

"Um, Mrs. Weasley," Lily said timidly after finishing her tea.  "Do you think it might be a good idea if we got out some...some supplies?  Wound-cleaning potion and towels and things like that?  You know...just in case."

"I suppose it couldn't hurt," Mrs. Weasley said.  "Ginny, go ahead and fetch some towels and bandages and things, I'll go find any potions that might be...might be useful."

Left alone, Lily cleaned up the tea things and sat back down on the couch.  Ginny and Mrs. Weasley returned shortly, setting everything on the kitchen table and joining Lily in the sitting room.  There wasn't much to do now but wait.  They sat listening to the radio and chatting uncomfortably for one hour...then two hours...

"Ron and Tonks should be here any minute," Ginny said, checking her watch and standing up.

Mrs. Weasley and Lily followed her outside.  They stood on the back step and watched a rusty oil can appear on the lawn, without Ron or Tonks attached.  This was not a good sign.  Lily could feel hot tears swelling up in her throat and the corners of her eyes, and she heard Mrs. Weasley mutter, "Oh no..."

"I-I'm sure they're alright, Mum," Ginny said, patting her mother on the shoulder.  “Fred and Dad should be coming now...”

But their Portkey, an old shoe, arrived without them as well.

"What's going on?" said Ginny, sounding worried.  "Why aren't they back?"

"What's that?" Lily said, pointing to a blue light in the sky, that was increasing in size as it approached.

Everyone screamed as Harry and Hagrid came crashing into the yard.  Mrs. Weasley and Ginny ran forward, but Lily hung back at the door in case she needed to fetch something.  Mrs. Weasley hugged Harry and they spoke frantically for a few moments, until Hagrid requested some brandy.  Mrs. Weasley hurried into the house for the liquor and Lily followed behind.

As soon as they returned outside Ginny pointed to another blue spark on the horizon and shouted, "Mum!"

George and Lupin spun into view, but it was obvious immediately that something was wrong.  George was bleeding from the head; Harry ran forward to help Lupin carry him into the house.  Lily rushed in before them, sobbing in earnest now.  She rummaged through the medicines on the kitchen table until she found a small bottle of dittany, then she grabbed several towels and went to the sofa where George was now lying.  The whole left side of his face and neck were drenched in bright red blood and his ear was missing.  Lily handed the towels and dittany to Mrs. Weasley, who was crying just as hard as she was.  She began toweling up blood and dropping copious amounts of essence of dittany into her son's wound as Harry and Lupin retreated to the kitchen.

Ginny pulled up chairs for her mother and herself, but Lily was content to sit on the floor holding George's hand while Mrs. Weasley worked.  Twenty minutes later the bleeding had stopped and all that was left was a clean hole where George's left ear had once been.  Lily was still crying, but she kept trying to remind herself that it could have been much worse.

Just then, Harry walked in and said, "How is he?"

Mrs. Weasley looked around and said, "I can't make it grow back, not when it's been removed by Dark Magic.  But it could have been so much worse...  He's alive."

"Yeah," said Harry.  "Thank God."

"Did I hear someone else in the yard?" Ginny asked.

"Hermione and Kingsley," said Harry.

"Thank goodness," Ginny whispered.

There was a crash in the kitchen.

"I'll prove who I am, Kingsley, after I've seen my son, now back off if you know what's good for you!"

Mr. Weasley burst into the living room, with Fred following behind.  Lily leapt from her place on the floor and stood next to Fred.  Mr. Weasley knelt down in Lily's place.

"Arthur!" sobbed Mrs. Weasley.  "Oh thank goodness!"

"How is he?" Mr. Weasley asked.

Lily looked up at Fred, who was gaping silently at his twin, lost for words.  Then George stirred.

"How do you feel, Georgie?" whispered Mrs. Weasley.

"Saintlike," he murmured, touching the side of his head.

"What's wrong with him?" croaked Fred, looking terrified.  "Is his mind affected?"

"Saintlike," repeated George, opening his eyes and looking up at his brother.  "You see...I'm holy.  _Holey_ , Fred, geddit?"

Lily let out a disbelieving laugh, and Fred said, "Pathetic.  Pathetic!  With the whole wide world of ear-related humour before you, you go for _holey_?"

"Ah, well," said George, grinning at his tear-soaked mother.  "You'll be able to tell us apart now, anyway, Mum."  He looked around.  "Hi, Harry - you are Harry, right?"

"Yeah, I am," said Harry.

"Well, at least we got you back okay," said George.  "Why aren't Ron and Bill huddled round my sickbed?"

"They're not back yet, George," said Mrs. Weasley. 

George's grin faded as Harry and Ginny went back outside to watch for the others.  Lily took Ginny's seat when she left; Fred followed her and stood between Lily and his mother.

"Well, Lily's here," George said, smiling back at her.  "That counts for something."

Lily smiled.  The group sat together for some time, with the twins joking like normal, Mrs. Weasley trying to hold back sobs, and Mr. Weasley looking simultaneously worried and relieved.

A little less than an hour later, Ginny rushed into the living room and announced that Ron and Tonks had returned safely.  Mr. and Mrs. Weasley ran outside to see their son, with Ginny close behind, leaving Fred, George, and Lily alone.

Lily was surprised at how well George was dealing with his injury.  Of course, she wasn't _that_ surprised.  Fred and George were simply born to approach life with laughter.  They tossed silly ear jokes back and forth for a quarter of an hour, until everyone that had been outside entered the Burrow with solemn looks on their faces.

"What's wrong?" said Fred.  "What's happened?  Who's - ?”

"Mad-Eye," said Mr. Weasley.  "Dead."

Lily put her hand to her mouth.  Bill walked to the sideboard and pulled out a bottle of firewhisky and some glasses.  He waved his wand and distributed drinks around the room, holding his own aloft.

"Mad-Eye," he said.

"Mad-Eye," they echoed, and drank.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In terms of feasibility/not interrupting the canon plot, this is one of the chapters I’m least satisfied with. Up to now, we never see Lily fully present in a scene that was completely detailed in the books. While her presence does not alter anything that we see in that scene (she even moves out of the way so that Mr. Weasley can kneel beside George, as he does in the books), and while I suppose it’s possible that in Harry’s emotional, adrenaline-fueled state he wouldn’t have noticed/mentioned Lily, this chapter still feels more intrusive to me than I want it to. That said, I do think George would have been able to convince Molly to let Lily come early for the wedding. How do you feel about OCs that find themselves in the middle of canon scenes? (Feel free to be honest, since I’m clearly on the fence about it and I wrote this chapter.) Leave a comment to let me know your thoughts!


	24. The Wedding

**7 th Year: 1 August 1997**

Five days later, the somber air hanging over the Burrow had dissolved to be replaced with light-hearted wedding festivities.  The elegant ceremony had concluded hours ago, and now all the guests were dancing, drinking, and laughing merrily in the orchard marquee.  All except for George, Lily, Fred and one of Fleur's cousins, that is.  They'd long since snuck away from the party; Fred and Yvette had retreated into the Burrow, while Lily and George were hiding in the garden.

"I think we've missed the cake," Lily giggled, kneeling up on the stone bench next to George and smoothing out the skirt of her light blue gingham dress in her lap.

"That's really unfortunate," George said, kissing her.

They broke apart and Lily smiled at him.  She was still getting used to how he looked without his ear.  The wound was shrinking by the day, and his hair was long enough to cover most of it; his head just looked a bit lopsided now.

“Hogwarts letters came this morning,” Lily said brightly.  “I’ve been made Quidditch captain!”

“No surprise there,” George said, putting his arm over her shoulder.

Lily beamed.  “Is it wrong that I’m mostly glad because I’ll get to use the prefects’ bathroom?”

“Not at all,” he replied.  “I’ve heard it’s a very nice bathroom.”

“You’re the first person I’ve told about it,” Lily went on.  “Becoming captain, I mean.  I didn’t tell anyone this morning because they were all rushing around getting ready for the wedding and everything.  They didn’t have time to listen.”

“Well congratulations, love,” said George.

Lily was about to thank him, but she was distracted by a streak of silver dropping onto the marquee.

“What was that?” Lily asked, standing up on the stone bench and looking out over the trees at the canvas tent beyond. 

“What was what?” George asked, also standing up.

“I saw something over the marquee…and listen…everyone’s gone quiet.  I wonder what’s going on.”

“Probably just –" George started, but he was cut short by a scream.

“Oh.  Come on,” he said, pulling out his wand and grabbing Lily’s hand.  “This way.”

Lily pulled out her wand as well and followed George to the back door of the Burrow.  He led her upstairs where they collided bodily with Ginny who was running the other direction.  George grabbed her by the elbow and the three didn’t stop until they’d reached the fifth floor landing outside Ron’s room.  They looked out the window into the orchard and saw a scene of pure chaos.  Wedding guests were running in all directions and Disapparating, and masked figures had dispersed themselves in the crowd.  George, Lily, and Ginny watched in awe for several moments before the sound of the front door bursting open made them jump.

“ _Protego_!” Lily shouted, pointing her wand towards the stairs, creating a Shield Charm so strong that the three of them were knocked backwards against the window.

“Merlin, Lily,” George gaped.

“My wand -” she gasped breathlessly through the effort of maintaining the spell “- it’s rowan...”

George looked perplexed, but Ginny supplied, “ _Wand of rowan, shield unbroken_...?” as if her brother should have known the old adage.

“You two are as bad as Mum.”

A voice issued from below that made Lily jump.

“Hello?” 

They exhaled.  It was Fred.

“Up here!” George shouted. 

They heard footsteps on stairs and Lily lowered her wand as Fred and Yvette joined them on the fifth floor landing, a frightened-looking Gabrielle in tow.

“Are you lot alright?” George asked.

Fred nodded.  “What’s going on?”

“The Ministry fell,” Ginny said gravely.  “Scrimgeour is dead.”

“What?” Lily asked, awed.  “How do you know?”

“Kingsley sent a message just before the Death Eaters showed up.  I ran inside to fetch my w-”

“Death Eaters?” Fred said, looking out the window.  “We should go help!”

"No!" Lily said to him. "Please stay here, Fred. Please?"

Just then the downstairs door banged open again.

“They’re headed for the house!” Mrs. Weasley shouted to no one in particular.

“Mum?” Ginny called cautiously, looking down the landing.

“Ginny!” Mrs. Weasley went on very hurriedly.  “Are any of your brothers up there with you?”

“Yeah, Fr-“

“Good.  Disapparate with them.”

“But, Mu-“

“ _Now_.”

“You heard her,” Ginny said, turning to face the group.

“Let’s just go into the village,” George said.  “Fred, take Yvette and Gabrielle.  I’ve got Ginny.  Lily, I trust you can make it on your own?”

Lily nodded and turned on the spot just as the door downstairs flew open for a third time.  She heard a rough voice call “Where’s Potter?!” before she was engulfed with suffocating darkness.  Soon it was over and she was standing next to a garbage bin behind one of the shops in Ottery St. Catchpole.

Seconds later, George and Ginny arrived behind the shop next door, and moments after that Fred showed up with the Delacours.

“We have to go back,” Fred said at once.  “George and me, at least.”

“Your mum wouldn’t want you leaving Ginny behind,” Lily said.

“I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself, thanks,” Ginny snapped.

“Oh, I know that.  But,” she turned to Fred and George.  “You’re _safe_ now.  Why do you want to go back?”

“Because our _family_ might not be safe,” George said, patiently.  “Fred’s right, we have to go help.”

“I’m going, too, then,” said Ginny.

“No, you’re not,” the twins replied simultaneously.

Ginny sighed in disgust.

“We’ll send word when it’s safe to come home,” Fred promised.

Fred and George kissed Lily and Ginny on the cheek and then they disappeared together.

“We may as well wander about the village, then,” Ginny said, still looking cross.

“Don’t you think we’ll attract a bit too much attention, walking around in dirty dress robes?” Lily asked.

“Fine, we can just sit back here by the bins for hours, if you’d like.”

“Oh, for Merlin’s sake,” Lily sighed.  “Lead the way, Ginny.”

Yvette and Gabrielle looked extremely bewildered, but they followed Ginny and Lily as they walked around the shops into the village.

The girls had been walking silently for fifteen minutes, looking at window displays and avoiding the stares of shopping Muggles, when Gabrielle addressed Yvette.

“J’ai sommeil,” she said to her cousin.

“Can we stop?” Yvette asked with a very heavy French accent.  “Gabrielle is tired.”

Lily noticed that she, too, was feeling exhausted, and was glad to take refuge on a wooden bench in front of a coffee shop.

“Did your Hogwarts letter come this morning, too, Ginny?” Lily asked.

“Oh, yeah, it did,” Ginny said, sounding as though she’d forgotten.  “I got made Quidditch captain.”

“Hey, well done!” Lily smiled.  “I got made captain for Ravenclaw.”

“Really?” Ginny laughed.  “Congratulations.”

The girls launched into a heated discussion about who they thought the Hufflepuff and Slytherin captains would be, leaving Yvette and Gabrielle free to converse in their native French.

Over four hours later, there was still no word from the Burrow, and everyone was terribly nervous.  Just as Lily was trying to convince herself for the umpteenth time that the entire Weasley family had _not_ been murdered, a silvery weasel came bounding towards them.

Mr. Weasley’s voice emitted from it.  “Family safe.  Twins coming for you soon.”

And sure enough, twenty minutes later the twins appeared with a _crack_. 

“What’s happened?” Ginny asked Fred immediately.

“Death Eaters searched the whole house and interrogated everyone,” he replied.  “They were looking for Harry, but of course he wasn’t there.  Anyway, we’re still being watched, but we can go back to the Burrow so long as we Apparate right into the house.”

No one needed to be asked twice.  They all paired off again, turned, and vanished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the book, Fred and George are said to have vanished from the party with a couple of Fleur’s cousins, but in my headcanon, George sneaks off with Lily instead. Do you think this is a feasible imagining of what happened to Ginny during the wedding raid? I know she would’ve been desperate to stay and help, but I imagine Mrs. Weasley would have been adamant about keeping her out of the crossfire as best she could. Let me know your thoughts with a comment! Thank you for reading.


	25. The Last Platform

**7 th Year: 1 September 1997**

Lily took a deep breath and wrapped her hands tightly around her cart as she ran towards the barrier separating King’s Cross Station from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.  She exhaled after breaking through successfully, and then she worked her way into the crowd of students, looking around for her friends.  She noticed the platform wasn't quite so crowded as usual, but she wasn’t surprised.  Between the Dark Lord rising and the "surveys" of Muggle-borns being carried out by the Ministry of Magic, she was sure many families had gone into hiding, even though attending Hogwarts was now mandatory for all school-aged children.

Lily spotted Draco first, standing on the far side of the platform.  Crabbe and Goyle were lurking at his side, as always, and Pansy Parkinson was chattering away with Tabby Meliflua close by.  But Draco looked different somehow; exhausted and disengaged.  He looked up rather sharply and his gaze fell on Lily.  But before she could even walk across the platform to him, James and Indigo appeared at her side.  She looked back at Draco, who acknowledged her with a nod before turning to board the Hogwarts Express one last time.

“Lily!” Indigo smiled, hugging her.  “How was your summer?  I haven’t seen you since we were at James’s.”  (Indigo and Lily had spent the last week of June in Ireland visiting James and his cousin, Devon.)

“It was alright,” Lily said, now hugging James around the middle.

James had grown quite tall over the past few years, but his brown curls still fell around his face the same way they had when Lily first met him exactly six years before.

"Come on then,” James said to Lily, taking Indigo’s hand and heading towards the train.  “We’ve already got a compartment.”

Lily followed the gleam of Indigo’s dark auburn hair into their compartment.  Once all of Lily’s luggage had been safely stowed away, the trio sat down.

“So what did you do all holiday?” Indigo asked Lily.

“Eh…wandered around Diagon Alley a lot…spent quite a bit of time with the Weasleys, actually…”

“Yeah?” James said.

“Yeah.  Do you remember Fleur Delacour?  She was the Beauxbatons champion during the Triwizard Tournament?  Well, anyway, she married Bill Weasley - he’s the oldest - in August and I was at their wedding.”

“Was it a good wedding?” asked Indigo.

“Erm…well…”

Lily thought for a moment.  She wasn’t sure _good_ was the best word to describe a wedding that had been interrupted by an invasion of Death Eaters and the announcement that the Ministry of Magic had fallen and that the Minister was dead.  She was spared from answering, however, by the timely appearance of Flynn Bradley, a fellow member of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.

“Could I sit with you all?” Flynn asked, smiling in the doorway.

“Yeah, of course,” Lily said as the train lurched forward, departing at last.  “Come in.”

“Thanks,” he said, putting away his trunk and then sitting down next to Lily.  “Hey, I heard you got made Quidditch captain.  Congratulations.”

“Thanks, Flynn,” Lily said.  “You’re going to have to help me reconstruct the team, though…we’ve got a Chaser and a Seeker to replace.”

“And a Beater,” Flynn said.

“What?  Who?” Lily said in disbelief.

“Yep,” replied Flynn.  “I was talking to Mason earlier today and he said that Xander isn’t coming back.  Mason said he was planning on coming back, until his mum saw the Daily Prophet this morning and changed her mind.”

Xander Fenley had joined the Ravenclaw Quidditch team the year before, replacing Rohan Sykes after he left school.

“What was in the Daily Prophet that made her change her mind?” James asked.

“You didn’t see the staffing changes?” Flynn asked.

“What staffing changes?” Lily inquired.

“Snape is the new headmaster!” Flynn blurted out.

“You’re kidding!” Indigo said.  “I thought McGonagall had taken over for Dumbledore!”

“Nope,” Flynn said, matter-of-factly.  “Snape’s headmaster now.”

“Well, it could be worse,” Lily said.  She wasn’t sure that Professor Snape actually _liked_ her.  In fact, he ignored her, for the most part.  But she always got good marks in his class, which was more than most of her non-Slytherin classmates could say.  He’d even complimented her potion-making skills once or twice.

“Who could be worse, Lily, honestly?” James asked.

“Umbridge was worse,” she replied definitely.  “So Xander’s really not coming back, huh?”

"No,” Flynn said.  “But I’m not surprised.  His dad is Muggle-born, you know.  He went into hiding a while ago, but I think now his entire family is going to join him.”

Just then, something dawned on Lily, and she felt terribly selfish and thoughtless for not having said anything before.

“Merlin…your parents!” she said to James and Indigo.  James’ mother and Indigo’s father were Muggle-born.  “What’s happened to them?!” Lily went on, a bit hysterically.  “Are they okay?  Have they been called in for interrogation?”

James smiled weakly.  “Mam’s fine,” he said.  “She never got contacted by the Ministry, and we figure since Dad’s pretty high up at work that she would’ve been okay…but her and Erin and Devon and his mum have all moved stateside for a while, just to be safe.”

“Goodness, James, I’m sorry,” Lily said, sympathetically.  “When did they leave?”

“A month or so after you left,” he responded.  “Dad and I went with them.  We tried to make a bit of a holiday out of it.  But that’s why I wasn’t really in touch all summer…we were pretty busy getting Mam and Erin settled in.  I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, James,” Lily said, shaking her head.  “I can understand.  And what about your dad, Indigo?”

“Australia,” she said, staring at the floor, her long hair hanging in curtains around her cheeks.  “He went by himself at the start of August.”

"Well, at least he’ll be safe there,” Lily replied in a sorry attempt to comfort her friend.

Indigo just nodded in reply and put her head on James’ shoulder.

The group sat in pensive silence for nearly an hour until the tea trolley came around.  They cheered up considerably after eating some chocolate frogs and licorice wands.  They spent the rest of the trip discussing happier things; Quidditch, what they planned to do after leaving Hogwarts, and some of the less depressing parts of their summers.  On the whole, the train ride passed uneventfully, though it was significant in Lily’s mind because she was all too aware that this was the last time she would ever take the train to Hogwarts on September first.  It was finally sinking in that she was a seventh year, and Lily wasn’t sure if she should be excited that she would soon be a fully qualified witch, or sad that she really was entering her last year at Hogwarts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How do you think Muggle-borns and those with Muggle-born parents reacted to the new laws (like the Muggle-Born Registration Commission) after Voldemort took over the Ministry? We know Hermione modified her parents’ memories and sent them to Australian, and that Dean Thomas just went on the run. Does it seem logical that other families would have sought refuge abroad, or would the situation not have seemed dire enough at this point to move across an ocean? Let me know your thoughts with a comment. Thanks!


	26. Severus Snape's Regime

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seventh year has proven a bit harder to write than the other years, because there's no solid timeline of events at Hogwarts, considering the trio wasn't there during seventh year. Consequently, this chapter is sort of a collection of summaries and anecdotes that work to convey how things were going at school while Harry, Ron, and Hermione were away.

**7 th Year**

Life at Hogwarts was certainly different now that Severus Snape was headmaster.  Two new professors had joined the staff, for one.  They were a brother-sister team, the Carrows.  Alecto taught Muggle Studies, which was now a required course for all students, and Amycus taught Defense Against the Dark Arts (although he really just taught the Dark Arts bit).  Detentions with the Carrows were said to be torturous, though Lily noticed it was mostly Gryffindors and a few other particularly bold students that were being punished, because they were the only ones brave enough to speak out against the new regime.  Lily had been doing her best to lay low and stay out of trouble, regardless of the horrible things the Carrows were forcing them to learn.  All the same, Lily was no Gryffindor, and she could keep her mouth shut if it meant keeping herself from being physically punished.

Also, the school was suddenly greatly lacking for Muggle-borns.  Lisa Turpin, one of Lily’s roommates, had not come back at the start of term, and her absence was a constant reminder of how different things had become.  Lily often found herself missing Dumbledore, Xander, Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, Roger, Corwin, even Nikolai, Cedric, and Sirius quite a lot.  And even though she was still surrounded by several good friends, she felt quite lonely.  It was _strange_ being a seventh year, especially with so many people missing from her daily life.  It was strange how much things had changed since her first day at Hogwarts.

Still, a lot of things were like they’d always been.  Hogwarts still _felt_ safe, even if the enemy had seemingly penetrated its walls.  Ravenclaw was still home; Lily and James still stayed up late on the weekends playing Gobstones and chess, with Indigo near by drawing or reading, and always willing to play the winner.  They even still had Hogsmeade weekends, and Quidditch was still being played.

In fact, by the end of September, through the joint efforts of Lily, Flynn, and Mason, the Ravenclaw Quidditch team had reformed nicely.  Two fifth year boys, Samuel Lacewood and Maurice Mulready, were the new Chasers.  Stephen Cornfoot, a sixth year, had stepped in to play Beater alongside Mason, and little Stewart Ackerly was the new Seeker.

They were practicing one night when Mason accidentally launched a Bludger towards Lily.  It promptly collided, with a sickening crunch, into her right leg.

She screamed out in pain, swore, and then yelled “MASON!” with such force that it echoed through the stadium.

He flew over to her.  “Sorry, Lily,” he said, grimacing with concern.

“Every – single – year – Edgar!”  Tears were streaming down her face now in a mix of fury and pain.

Lily felt as though she was _constantly_ being pelted with Bludgers; more so than the average Quidditch player.  In second year she had her knee dislocated by Slytherin’s Beater.  During a third year practice Lily had been staring towards the castle longingly, anticipating dinner, when Rohan’s Bludger hit her square in the back of the head.  She was knocked out for four days.  Lily took a Bludger to the wrist in fifth year and another to the ankle sixth year; both Mason’s doing.  And now, here she was again, with her leg dangling limply and painfully over the side of her broom.

Mason apologized again and made sure that Lily made it to the ground safely.  Flynn joined them there.

“Call practice,” Lily said, balancing awkwardly on one leg, using Mason for support.  Her leg was throbbing terribly.

“We’re done for the night!” Flynn shouted to the rest of the team, who had gathered nervously around their captain.  Then, more quietly to Lily he said, “You need hospital wing.  Come on.”

“Hold on,” Lily said, taking out her wand and aiming it at her own ankle.  “ _Ferula_.”  A splint materialized around her leg.

“Goodness, Lily Carling, what have you done this time?” Madam Pomfrey asked as Lily hobbled into the infirmary with Flynn and Mason.

“Bludger to the leg,” she said, sitting down on one of the beds.  “ _Again_ ,” she added, glaring at Mason.

“Of course,” Madam Pomfrey said, putting a pillow under Lily’s leg and removing the splint.  “Well, you know the routine.  I want you here for the night.”

Lily rolled her eyes, groaned, and laid down.

“Ready?” Madam Pomfrey asked.

“Yes,” Lily said, bracing herself.

Madam Pomfrey took out her wand, tapped Lily’s leg gently and muttered a complicated string of incantations.  Lily winced as she felt her bones fusing back together beneath her skin.

“There,” Madam Pomfrey said, moving Lily’s leg in all directions to check her work.  Then she rummaged in the bedside cupboard and pulled out a large vial of potion.  She conjured a cup and filled it with bright blue liquid.  “Now, drink this.”

Lily did and all pain left her leg.

“I’m really, really sorry,” Mason said yet again.  Lily knew he meant it.

“It’s fine,” she replied.  “But really, Mason, you’ve _got_ to stop doing that.”

***

By December Hogwarts almost seemed normal again.  But perhaps that was because Lily had become accustomed to the Carrows’ methods.  She had yet to receive a detention, and she was sure that was only because of her Blood Status.  She made sure that the Carrows were well aware of her relation to the Lestranges early on, and Lily was positive that this had played a major role in keeping her from harm.  (She also made sure, though, that Neville, Ginny, and Luna knew she was still on the D.A.’s side, even if she wasn’t brave enough to outwardly rebel.)  However, Dark Arts students were now required to perform the Cruciatus Curse on those that _had_ received detentions; Amycus thought it to be “good practice”.  But Lily had found a way around this, too. 

The Carrows would take those to be punished and line them up against the wall, and then they’d place those that were going to cast the spell across from them.  Lily always made a point of standing near Crabbe or Goyle, or anyone else that would say their incantation loudly, to distract from the fact that she wasn’t saying any incantation at all.  Then, instead of Crucioing her classmate, she would cast a nonverbal Tickling Charm.  _Rictusempra_ usually caused people to double over and writhe around on the ground, so the visual effect was nearly the same.  She could only hope that the person she was cursing had enough sense to scream out in mock pain instead of laughing uncontrollably while the spell was working.  The Carrows weren’t bright enough to realize what she was doing, anyway, so her apparent skill at torturing students put her into even better favour with them.

Carrow classes aside, Lily liked her lessons, even though the seventh years were drowning in N.E.W.T work.  Potions was easily her favourite class.  She’d enjoyed Potions even when Snape had taught it, but since Slughorn had become the Potions Professor, Lily’s brewing skills had really taken off.  Slughorn had been fond of Lydia, and in turn he was fond of Lily as well.

“Carling-Lestrange...” he had said one day during class in her sixth year.  “Who is your father, Lily?” he went on.  “Not Sawyer Carling, surely?”

“Yes, that’s him,” Lily said, smiling.

“Ah, yes, one of my students.  He was a rabble-rouser, to be sure!  Clever, yes, but he rarely applied that knowledge to his schoolwork.  And _Lestrange_ , you said?  Then your mother must be Briar Lestrange?”

“No, she's my aunt.”

“Ah, I always liked her.  A Slytherin through and through.  What is she up to these days?”

“She works at the Magizoology Institute in Salem.”

“Of course!  No surprise at all, she was always ambitious, your aunt.  So your mother, then?”

“Lydia Lestrange.”

“Ah, Lydia!” Slughorn said, his eyes lighting up.  “I never could understand why Lydia wasn’t in my house.  A charming young lady.  Very bright.  Yes, yes, I see a lot of Lydia in you, Lily.  You would’ve made a good Slytherin too, you know.”

“Thank you, Professor,” she said, smiling across the aisle at Draco.  The corner of his mouth lifted slightly.  “The Sorting Hat thought the same.”

***

It was true, Hogwarts was different under its new leader.  Still, the D.A.’s actions against the system gave everyone hope.  With news updates from _Potterwatch_ and a quiet revolt being carried out by Dumbledore’s Army, Lily was able to keep her spirits up.  And, overall, she maintained that Umbridge had been a worse headmaster than Snape.

Michael Corner, however, didn’t see things that way.

“How can you possibly _trust_ him?” he asked her.

“I don’t know,” Lily said.  “…something is off.  He’s not like the Carrows, not really.  I mean, remember a few weeks ago when Luna and them were trying to steal that sword out of Snape’s office?”

“Yeah,” Michael said.  “He caught them.  And punished them.”

“By sending them into the Forest with Hagrid!”

“…so?”

“He could’ve done them so much more harm.  They broke into his office, for goodness sake!  He could’ve sent them to Filch…or the Carrows!  But no, he handed them over to Hagrid, who they all trust.”

“I don’t care,” Michael retorted.  “I still think he’s pure evil.”

“Oh, Michael!  He’s not _pure_ evil.  Personally, I just think his life didn’t quite turn out they way he’d meant it to, and now he’s bitter about it.  I feel a bit sorry for him, to be honest.  He’s not _evil_.”

“He lets teachers cast Unforgivable Curses on _first years_.”

“I don’t know, though.  Dumbledore always trusted him –“

“- which was obviously a mistake –“

“No, it wasn’t!  It’s all very curious, don’t you think?”

Michael sighed.

“Either way, he’s not as bad as Umbridge,” Lily said.

“Umbridge never Crucioed students!”

“You don’t know that.  And besides, she still made them write lines in their _own blood_.”

“You’re too trusting, sometimes, Lily.  That’s going to get you into trouble someday.”

“Well it’s keeping me out of trouble at the moment!” she argued.  “Maybe you’re not trusting _enough_!”

“Let’s just drop it,” Michael said, exasperated.  “I can tell we’re not going to agree.”

“Fine,” Lily said.  “Neither of us are thinking very clearly right now, anyway, what with this ridiculous Dark Arts essay we’re supposed to be working on.  ‘Practical applications of the Imperius Curse’…honestly.”

“Oh, just make something up,” Michael said.  “That’s what I’ve been doing.”

“That’s what we’ve all been doing, I’m sure,” Lily said.  “This class is completely pointless.”

“And it doesn’t help that Carrow is hardly qualified to be a professor,” Michael said.  “He’s hardly qualified to _read_ , let alone teach.”

The Carrows were something that Michael and Lily could agree on.  They spent a good ten minutes bashing them, and both felt considerably more cheerful once they were done.  They worked on their Dark Arts papers together, and had a good time using as many obscure words as they could, in the hopes of confusing their professor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think of this depiction of Hogwarts with Snape as headmaster? Do you agree that some aspects of school life would still feel normal, or would everything be different? Would it even feel like Hogwarts? Please share your thoughts with a comment!


	27. The Battle of Hogwarts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of the text in this chapter comes directly from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I do not claim to have written it.

**7 th Year: April – May 1997**

By early April, through the fake galleons that had served them so faithfully two years before, members of the D.A. learned that some of their fellows had gone into hiding.  Neville had vanished first, and others soon followed.  By the end of the month, Lily and Padma were packing their things, preparing to move into the Room of Requirement with the rest of Dumbledore’s Army.  It wasn’t so much for a place to hide; both girls were pureblooded and had managed to keep quiet about their loyalties for the past several months.  They were moving to be closer to their Army; to receive news of the war; to help each other keep faith and stay safe.

Several Ravenclaws had preceded Padma and Lily in abandoning their usual dormitories.  Before she left, Lily explained the situation to Indigo and James.  Her best friends had never been interested in fighting, but they understood why Lily was taking this action and promised they would do their best to keep the Army’s secret safe.

Padma and Lily were pleasantly surprised when they finally reached the Room of Requirement that day.  The space had truly outdone itself.  It strongly resembled the cabin of a great ship; the walls were paneled with dark wood and colourful hammocks and banners hung from the walls and ceiling.  Large bookcases coated the walls, a few broomsticks rested against the paneling, and an old wooden radio stood proudly in the corner.

They were greeted warmly when they arrived.  Padma immediately met up with her twin, who had moved into the Room just a few days prior.  Lily smiled as she took in all the familiar faces.  Her housemates, Terry Boot, Michael Corner, and Anthony Goldstein were there.  Seamus Finnigan, Ernie Macmillan, Lavender Brown and Colin Creevey were there as well.  Most of those in hiding were older students.  Dennis Creevey was one of the youngest among them, and he was always being tailed by little Ruthie Harlowe, a second year Gryffindor who Lily recognized from Quidditch.  She’d taken Harry’s place as Seeker for Gryffindor, under Ginny’s captaining.

The next two weeks that Lily spent in the Room of Requirement were some of the best she’d had all school year.  It was nice being surrounded by friends all fighting for a common goal.  It was a very familial environment, and it was comforting to listen to _Potterwatch_ with the group and to be able to openly discuss theories on where Harry, Ron, and Hermione might be and what they might be up to.

And finally, one excited evening in early May, solid news came.  Rumours had been flying around since the previous evening that Harry, Ron, and Hermione had successfully broken into and escaped from Gringotts, and the entire DA had been ignited with a renewed fervor to overthrow Snape after hearing this news.  The Room of Requirement was positively buzzing.  They were convinced something big was about to happen, and they were right.

“Neville…look!” Ruthie shouted, pointing to the usually empty portrait that hung on the wall.  It had been filled with the image of a young, blonde-haired girl wearing an almost empty expression.  “She’s back!  Look!”

The room had gone silent now, everyone was looking at the girl on the wall.  Neville made his way to the frame and looked into Ariana’s eyes.  She smiled and turned, heading out of her picture.

Neville smiled too.  “I bet it’s them!” he said eagerly, climbing into the passage behind the portrait.  “I’ll be back soon!”

He vanished and the room erupted with excited chatter.  What was happening?  This was what they’d been waiting for, surely?  Were Harry, Ron, and Hermione really coming back to take down the Carrows, as Neville had predicted?

An hour later, Neville reappeared, smiling broadly.  “Look who it is!  Didn’t I tell you?” he shouted.

Harry’s head was barely through the door when he was barraged by an onslaught of people.  He, Hermione and Ron made it through the door; Lily ran forward to hug them, but everyone else had had the same thought and soon the trio was buried in bodies.  Everyone wanted to shake their hands and find out what they’d been doing.

“Okay, okay, calm down!” Neville shouted, and the crowd backed away.

“I knew they’d come back!” Terry Boot whispered happily to Lily as Neville explained the hideout to Harry.  “I just knew they would.”

“What are we going to do then, Harry?” Seamus asked a few moments later.  “What’s the plan?”

“Plan?” Harry repeated.  “Well, there’s something we – Ron, Hermione, and I – need to do, and then we’ll get out of here.”

“What d’you mean, ‘get out of here’?” Neville asked, confused.

“We haven’t come back to stay,” Harry replied.  “There’s something important we need to do –“

“What is it?”

“I – I can’t tell you.”

“Why can’t you tell us?” Neville questioned, looking a bit hurt.  “It’s something to do with fighting You-Know-Who, right?”

“Well, yeah –“

“Then we’ll help you.”

There was general agreement at this statement.  Terry stepped forward and Lily nodded.

“You don’t understand,” Harry said.  “We – we can’t tell you.  We’ve got to do it – alone.”

“Why?” pleaded Neville.

“Because…Dumbledore left the three of us a job, and we weren’t supposed to tell – I mean, he wanted us to do it, just the three of us.”

“We’re his army,” Neville said.  “Dumbledore’s Army.  We were all in it together, we’ve been keeping it going while you three have been off on your own –“

“It hasn’t exactly been a picnic, mate,” said Ron.

“I never said it had, but I don’t see why you can’t trust us.  Everyone in this room has been fighting and they’ve been driven in here because the Carrows were hunting them down.  Everyone in here’s proven they’re loyal to Dumbledore – loyal to you.”

“Look –“ Harry started, but he was interrupted by the portrait door opening behind him, revealing Luna Lovegood and Dean Thomas.

Seamus ran to meet his best friend as Luna greeted the crowd at large.  Neville continued trying to convince Harry that Dumbledore’s Army could help him with whatever task he’d been set to do. 

“Then let us help!” he said angrily.  “We want to be a part of it!”

Just then the door behind Harry opened again, and this time, Ginny, Fred, George, Lee Jordan and Cho Chang were climbing through.  Lily immediately ran over to the new arrivals and grabbed George around the middle.

“So what’s the plan, Harry?” George asked, his arm around Lily.

“There isn’t one,” Harry said, looking confused.

“Just going to make it up as we go along, are we?  My favourite kind,” said Fred.

“You’ve got to stop this!” Harry told Neville.  “What did you call them all back for?  This is insane –“

“We’re fighting, aren’t we?” said Dean.  “The message said that Harry was back, and we were going to fight!  I’ll have to get a wand, though –“

Seamus turned sharply.  “You haven’t got a _wand_ \- ?”

George looked down at Lily.  “Have you been okay?”

“Fine,” she said, smiling up at him.  “And you?”

“Oh, you know,” he said, grinning back.  “Bored all the time, as usual.  Nothing exciting to do.  No evil wizards to fight or anything like that.”

“Yeah,” Fred chipped in.  “We’ve taken up knitting to pass the time.”

Lily laughed and so did those around her.  Fred and George continued cracking jokes until Harry spoke up again.

“Okay,” he called out, and the room fell silent.  “There’s something we need to find.  Something – something that’ll help us overthrow You-Know-Who.  It’s here at Hogwarts, but we don’t know where.  It might have belonged to Ravenclaw.  Has anyone heard of an object like that?  Has anyone ever come across something with her eagle on it, for instance?”

Lily and the other Ravenclaws shook their heads, but Luna responded.

“Well, there’s her lost diadem.  I told you about it, remember, Harry?  The lost diadem of Ravenclaw?  Daddy’s trying to duplicate it.”

“Yeah, but the lost diadem,” said Michael Corner, “is _lost_ , Luna.  That’s sort of the point.”

“When was it lost?” Harry inquired.

Lily opened her mouth to answer but Cho got there first.

“Centuries ago, they say.  Professor Flitwick says the diadem vanished with Ravenclaw herself.  People have looked, but nobody’s ever found a trace of it, have they?”

“Sorry,” Ron said, “but what _is_ a diadem?”

Lily made to respond, but was beaten to the punch again, this time by Terry.

“It’s a kind of crown,” he answered.  Ravenclaw’s was supposed to have magical properties, enhance the wisdom of the wearer.”

“And none of you have ever seen anything that looks like it?”

They all shook their heads.

“If you’d like to see what the diadem’s supposed to look like, I could take you up to our common room and show you, Harry?” said Cho.  “Ravenclaw’s wearing it in her statue.”

Cho stood up, but Ginny said rather fiercely, “No, Luna will take Harry, won’t you, Luna?”

“Oooh, yes, I’d like to,” said Luna happily.

Neville and Luna led Harry to the exit in the corner and soon they were gone.

Over the next two hours more and more Order members arrived.  Bill and Fleur had come first, closely followed by Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Lupin.  Then Kingsley appeared, and not long after that Oliver Wood, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet had joined the ranks.

Lupin met Harry and Luna at the foot of the stairs when they returned.

“Harry, what’s happening?” Lupin asked.

“Voldemort’s on his way, they’re barricading the school – Snape’s run for it –“

Lily’s eyes widened in terror at this news.  She’d been prepared to do away with a few unsavoury teachers, but she was not prepared to take on You-Know-Who himself.

“What first, Harry?” George called from his place beside Lily.  “What’s going on?”

“They’re evacuating the younger kids and everyone’s meeting in the Great Hall to get organized,” Harry said.  “We’re fighting.”

“I have to leave,” Lily said sadly to George.  “I – I just can’t fight.  I don’t have that sort of courage.”

“You shouldn’t be getting mixed up in this, anyway,” George said smiling.  “Do what you’ve got to do.  I understand.”

Lily smiled weakly and George kissed her forehead. 

“Good luck,” she said to him, before turning to his twin.

“I’m leaving,” she said to Fred.  “I can’t stay.  But I wanted to tell you good luck.”

“Thanks, Lily,” he said, hugging her.  “I’ll see you soon.”

Lily gave him a weak smile as well, and joined the others rushing out of the Room of Requirement towards the Great Hall.

Once she reached her destination, Lily began searching the Hall nervously for Indigo and James.  She found them quickly and stood behind them, then turned to hear what Professor McGonagall was saying.

“…evacuation will be overseen by Mr. Filch and Madam Pomfrey.  Prefects, when I give the word, you will organize your House and take your charges, in an orderly fashion, to the evacuation point.”

“Lily!” James whispered happily, noticing her presence after McGonagall had stopped speaking.  “You’re here!”

She smiled at her friends.  “I don’t suppose you two want to stay to fight?”

“No,” Indigo answered, shaking her head violently.

“Nor do I,” Lily said.  “I know where the evacuation point is.  We can all apparate back to Feverfew Vale together, if you’d like.  Once we get there we can work out what to do next.”

“Apparating to your house sounds like a good idea,” James said.  “I don’t think it’d be wise for me to try to apparate all the way back to Ireland amidst all this frenzy.”

“We’ll do that, then,” Lily said.  Then she turned her attention back towards her transfiguration teacher.

“I must ask you, therefore, to move quickly and calmly, and do as your prefects –“

But her speech was cut short by a cold, high voice ringing throughout the Hall.

“I know that you are preparing to fight.”

“Bleeding hell, that’s not You-Know-Who, is it?” James asked as the Great Hall rippled with screams and murmurs.

“Your efforts are futile,” Voldemort continued.  “You cannot fight me.  I do not want to kill you.  I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts.  I do not want to spill magical blood.  Give me Harry Potter and none shall be harmed.  Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched.  Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded.  You have until midnight.”

The Hall was swallowed in silence.  Every head had turned; every eye seemed to have found Harry.  Then Pansy Parkinson rose up from the Slytherin table, pointed, and shouted “But he’s there!  Potter’s _there_!  Someone grab him!”

Suddenly, every House stood up and moved to shield Harry from the Slytherins.

“Thank you, Miss Parkinson,” said Professor McGonagall shortly.  “You will leave the Hall first with Mr. Filch.  If the rest of your House could follow.”

The Slytherins stood up from their table and marched out of the Hall behind Filch.

“Ravenclaw, follow on!” cried Professor McGonagall.

Lily’s heart pounded as she hurriedly followed the crowd towards the seventh floor.  She held hands with Indigo and James as they made their way up.  The Room of Requirement was teeming with people when they finally arrived, but they managed to reach the portrait door and begin the long walk towards the Hog’s Head.  They continued on, holding hands all the while, and when they finally stumbled out over Aberforth’s mantle, Lily immediately turned on the spot and apparated to Berkshire with her friends at her side.

The group heaved a simultaneous sigh of relief when they landed in the cherry tree-lined garden of Feverfew Vale.  They stood there for several moments, not letting go of each other, unsure of what to do next.  When they’d finally regained some composure, they made their way towards the entrance of the house and stumbled inside to safety.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you think many of the seventh years returned the following autumn to have a second stab at their last year at Hogwarts since this one was such garbage? We know Hermione went back, but she actively missed the entire schoolyear. Do you think other students would have chosen to repeat the year, or would most have preferred to get on with their lives? Let me know with a comment, and thank you for reading!


	28. Chapter 28

**May 1998**

Two whole nights had passed since Lily and so many others had fled Hogwarts to avoid the impending attack of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.  And though the news of Voldemort’s defeat was plastered all over the _Daily Prophet_ and the Wizarding Wireless Network the next day, she had still heard nothing of those she had left behind: the Weasleys, the Order, George...

Lily had retreated to her childhood home at Feverfew Vale in the frenzy of the battle and though it was a comfortable place – a safe place – her mother, Lydia, had never been as interested in the war as the average witch or wizard and she did not particularly share Lily’s concern for the fates of those who had been left behind to fight in the Battle of Hogwarts.

After making herself another cup of tea, Lily resumed her post curled up in the sitting window that looked out onto the front garden.  She sipped her tea and stared pensively out at the cherry tree lined path, the sun shining lazily through their branches which swayed gracefully in the breeze.

_Crack!_

Lily sloshed hot tea all down her front at the sudden noise, but she didn’t care.  Two violently redheaded men had just appeared in the walk, heading for the front door, looking solemn and careworn.  She leapt up from her seat and flung the front door wide before they could knock.

“Charlie!” she exclaimed in relief, hugging him fiercely.  “George,” she sighed much more tenderly as Charlie released her, falling into his brother’s arms instead.  He held her tightly and did not let go for a long time.

“Please, come in,” she offered when George released her at last, swinging the front door wide.  “I’ve just made tea, we can -”

“We can’t stay,” Charlie said apologetically, but he didn’t explain any further.  “We just wanted to make sure you knew...”

Lily stared at them blankly for a moment, confused.  There was something odd about seeing just the two of them on her front step, but she couldn’t quite place what it was...then it dawned on her.

“Where’s Fred?” she inquired, looking to George whose head was hung sadly, looking strangely small without his twin beside him.

Charlie just shook his head in reply.


	29. Epilogue

This isn’t really an epilogue so much as an author’s note to tell you that while this is the end of the prose I’ve written chronicling Lily’s schoolyears, I have a very detailed, post-Deathly Hallows headcanon that I will post as a separate story.  Thank you very kindly if you’ve read this far.  I appreciate your support more than you know.  <3

***

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”

 – Albus Dumbledore, _Deathly Hallows_ , page 723


End file.
